The Curse of the Moon's Eye
by ultra-violet-box
Summary: Falconstar is declared dead one evening and almost all of WindClan are in the dark about the true reason why this has happened. However, they have bigger things to worry about now Marshclaw is the leader. He is cruel and unforgiving, driven by reasons only he understands. WindClan must stay strong and hold out. They must wait for the eyes of the moon.
1. Prologue

Dawn light glinted off the low bushes as the horizon began to brighten. A silver streak traced the skyline, outlining every one of the plants in light grey as the sun crept further and further up, almost ready to peak over the hills and cast its golden morning light over the forest.

In a ravine, shaded with ferns and scattered with rocks, a cat stirred. His whiskers twitched as the birds' morning song swirled into his ears, and his emerald eyes opened, swinging lazilmind refused to let him sink back into sleep again. Sighing, he got up, shook a few scraps of moss off his fur and blinked sharply to clear his visioy from side to side. He closed his eyes, curling up on the moss, laying his tail over his ears as he tried to block out the sounds, however his n.

There were no other cats in Falconstar's den, for the obvious reason; he was the leader of WindClan, and got the supposed privilege of having a den to himself. However, as much as he liked being alone and being able to think without the sound of other cats around him, his den sometimes seemed very big, and he was just a small StarClan warrior in the midst of all of Silverpelt. Today, he had to make a decision about the Clan's future, and needed to consult one of his senior warriors.

Falconstar was a very thoughtful cat who tried to avoid battles if he could help it. Unlike once-friendly ThunderClan's new leader, Foxstar, he usually tried to talk out disputes with other Clans instead of jumping into battle. Some cats sneered at him and called him weak, but he wasn't going to put his Clan in danger when there were other ways of solving problems.

He wasn't a particularly physically strong leader, but he was clever and quick. Whenever his Clan was struggling, he would put things right with just a few simple words, giving the Clan courage and at the same time pushing their worries aside so they could get on with their lives. Earlier in his leadership, he had made several mistakes, but as he led his Clan further on in time, he began to grow stronger and was now one of the most respected leaders in the forest.

However, Falconstar was not getting any younger. He had been leader of his Clan for many, many seasons, and even though he was still a formidable warrior, he was on the last of his lives, but no one except him and Redfeather, WindClan's medicine cat, knew. With his deputy, Blackear, falling sick and becoming too weak to take over should something happen to Falconstar, he had to make the decision of who would be the new deputy, as it was already confirmed that Blackear was retiring.

Closing his eyes, he made his decision right there on the spot. He had been thinking about it for a long period of the night, and now he was certain of his choice.

The WindClan leader pushed his way through the bushes at the front of his den, emerging in the weak, milky light. He was the only cat awake as he bounded down the few boulders by his den, his brown tabby coat rippling as he moved. He padded across the clearing, ears forward as he listened for any other cats that might be awake, and reached the warriors' area.

It was a small clearing amongst a cluster of low-growing bushes, with a taller bush overhanging part of the den. The senior warriors were supposed to sleep under the bush, where they were more sheltered from the rain, and the newer warriors would sleep exposed to the sky, but WindClan were known for their love of sleeping outside and being close to their warrior ancestors, so not many of the warriors followed this custom. Falconstar poked his head through the bushes and spotted his chosen warrior, his dark mottled pelt rising and falling as he slept.

Careful not to wake any of the others, Falconstar called out to the tom. "Marshclaw?"  
There was no need to repeat his name; the tom was known to be a light sleeper and awoke instantly. He blinked at his leader, amber eyes dulled with sleep. He stretched, being careful to avoid the other warriors, and got to his paws as Falconstar beckoned to him with his tail. Picking his way around the sleeping huddles of his Clanmates, he came to stand by his leader. He nodded to him, a signal for him to begin.

"Not here," Falconstar whispered, casting a glance at the rest of the warriors. One of them stirred, clearly close to waking up. "I don't want the others to hear."

Marshclaw nodded again, still not speaking. When Falconstar sprang away into the gorse bushes with a flick of his tail, the warrior followed, steadily padding after him until they were walking at the same pace. Falconstar looked up at the larger warrior, then spoke.  
"Marshclaw, I have a proposition for you."

The big warrior said nothing still, just nodded at Falconstar with a keen interest, signalling for him to go on.

"As you know," Falconstar began, choosing his words carefully, "Blackear has been sick for a while now." He could tell by the way Marshclaw's ears flicked up that he had guessed his leader's words. Nevertheless, he kept going. "He announced to me last night that he is stepping down, and moving to the Elder's den if he gets better. I have to choose a new deputy, and my first choice would be you." He caught Marshclaw's eye, a simple question kindling in its green depths.

Marshclaw dipped his head. "If this is what you wish," he meowed in his deep voice, "I will take up the position in Blackear's place."

"Thank you, Marshclaw," Falconstar mewed in relief. He had not only chosen Marshclaw for his strength and bravery; the mottled warrior was also a good thinker, with good battle strategies on the tips of his whiskers. He was a magnificent hunter as well, even though that wasn't his strong point. He was certain that he had made the right choice for the new deputy. He would announce it at Moonhigh.

"I'll stay here and hunt," Marshclaw informed him. "I'll see if I can pick anything up to bring back to camp."

"I'll send out the Dawn patrol," Falconstar called back as he began to bound away, his tabby tail flicking. "Try to avoid clashing with them."

"I will," the other warrior meowed back.

What Falconstar didn't see, was the ghost of a sly smile that flickered across the once-nonchalant Marshclaw's face.


	2. Chapter one

Marshclaw licked a paw and drew it over his ear. His amber eyes scanned the clearing. A patrol were melting into the moor as they set off on a hunting patrol, their grey and brown pelts blending in with the natural surroundings. That was one of the key signatures of a WindClan cat; their coats were dull, not bright like a splash of snow in the night, and blended in well, making it easier to hunt on the exposed moor. He himself was a dark, mottled brown, and he could blend in better with the bushes, unlike a grey cat who could hunt perfectly on the hills if they stayed still enough.

He watched the cats in the camp, pretending he was relaxing; he had caught enough prey in the morning, and now it was just after sunhigh. However, he hadn't caught just rabbits on the moors. He stretched out his tail into a crevice in the rock, feeling for the round objects to check that they were still there. He felt one of them roll to the side in the narrow space, and quickly steered it into the group with the tip of his tail. He smiled to himself, his eyes half open. The circular objects would help him accomplish what he had dreamed of for his whole life. Yesterday, Falconstar had made him WindClan's deputy.

Now, he just needed the bait.

Casting around, he saw a new apprentice, Cheetahpaw, padding across the clearing, a rabbit clamped firmly in his jaws. Marshclaw opened one eye wider as he realised he was heading for the leader's den, for what other reason than to take prey to Falconstar?

The brown mottled warrior wasted no time in getting to his paws and padding across the clearing toward the young apprentice. Most of his fur was still downy, like a kit, and his shoulders didn't yet have the strength that other apprentices like Slatepaw and Birdpaw had. He walked with a strange, uncertain pace, as if he still wasn't sure of the camp.

Marshclaw caught up to him easily. He padded alongside him, and meowed, as gently as his deep, authoritative voice could muster: "Hello, young one. Where might you be going with that?"

The skittish apprentice jumped as if a bee had just stung him. "Um...I-I was just t-taking it to F-F-Falconstar's den," he stammered, trying to keep his voice steady. "T-Thistlefur told me to take it to him..."

"Tell you what," Marshclaw meowed in the same low tone, "I'll take him the prey. You can go hunting, or do whatever you want to until your mentor asks you to do something else."

The apprentice gave a jerky nod and dropped the kill, then skittered away toward the Elders' den. Marshclaw watched him go. _He probably hasn't quit his habit of going to see the elders just to hear a story. _

He looked down at the fresh-kill. Picking it up lightly in his teeth, he carried it away to the spot where he had been lying before, and rolled the scarlet orbs out of the crevice, shielding them with his body so no one would notice them. Quickly, checking that no one was looking at him, he ripped a hole in the rabbit and laid it on the ground. Hooking one of the spheres on his claw, he stuffed it inside, and then the other three followed, until there were none left. The rabbit looked a little plumper than normal.

Quickly cleaning the blood away with a piece of moss, he arranged the fur so the gap looked like it had never been there. Hopefully it wasn't visible that the rabbit had been tampered with in any way, other than being picked up by two different cats.

The warrior held the rabbit by the head so as not to risk getting the deadly juice in his mouth, and padded into Falconstar's den with a few strides across the clearing.

The tom was curled, resting, in his nest. He awoke as soon as Marshclaw came into the den, stretched, and got to his paws. "Good afternoon, Marshclaw." His gaze fell on the rabbit.  
"It's yours," Marshclaw told his leader. "Cheetahpaw had it first, but I was feeling generous, so I decided to relieve him from duties until his mentor tells him otherwise." His ears twitched.

A surprised expression flickered across Falconstar's gaze for a heartbeat, but it was gone too soon for an absentminded cat to notice. "Thank you, Marshclaw," he meowed to his deputy, settling down in his nest again and dragging the prey forward with his tail.

Marshclaw dipped his head and left the den, hearing the slight ripping of fur as his leader began to chew the fur of the rabbit. He walked briskly, not wanting to be seen anywhere near the den, just in case some cat put two and two together and realised what he had just done. Instead, he padded over to the opposite side of the clearing, where the Warriors' den was located, and stepped through the branches. He had several cats he needed to exchange words with, and all of them were dozing in their nests.

"Yarrowleaf, Ferntail, Nightspots, Stormsky," he growled softly. "I need to talk to you."

"...and so Gorseclaw fought the huge badger for the whole day, into the night when the stars shone bright, giving him courage, filling him with the strength needed to end the battle. The badger was killed, thanks to our ancestor, but that is not the end. Can you guess what happens next?"

Cheetahpaw blinked blankly at Hollysong, one of the Clan elders. He had barely been listening to the story; his mind was preoccupied with other things. He shook his head, keeping his mouth closed.  
Hollysong didn't seem to mind; she smiled. "There were lots more badgers in the forest, all the same size as the one he had just killed. The Clans had to join together, but it was thanks to Gorseclaw's plan that the badgers were driven out. Now the forest is safe, safer than it has ever been before the badgers were vanquished."

The young apprentice looked up at her. "What was Gorseclaw's plan?"

"No one knows." This time, Mallowclaw's voice rasped from the corner, his ravaged tail twitching. "The technique has been forgotten over the generations. There is no living memory of it."

Cheetahpaw blinked. "So is that it? He killed the badger, the Clans drove out the others, and then returned to their normal lives?"

Hollysong nodded. "That's pretty much what happens in the end," she rasped, her gaze clouding for a moment before re-focusing on the apprentice. "Now, you'd better get going. Your mentor probably wants you, and I'm tired."

The spotted apprentice nodded quickly and bounded out of the den. As soon as he emerged, he heard his mentor's voice drift over to him from across the clearing, and he looked up. She was beckoning to him with her tail.

Slightly nervous, he padded over to her. Thistlefur didn't look angry, she just held the stern face of a mentor. "Did you take the rabbit to Falconstar?"

"Marshclaw took it," the cat mewed, his stomach beginning to flip around as he wondered what she was going to say. "He said that I could do what I wanted until you told me otherwise."

Thistlefur's eyes narrowed as she scanned his expression, looking him up and down. After what seemed like an age, she spoke. "I suppose it's alright, then. Come with me now, we're going to-"

Cheetahpaw never found out what they were going to do. A screech of horror came from all the way across the clearing, where the leader's den was located. Cats everywhere in the clearing jerked up as a horrified wail came from inside the den.

"Falconstar is dead!"


	3. Chapter two

Redfeather's ears flattened as the scream rang through the camp. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the noise, trying to forget the words that had just slapped her in the face like an eagle's wing. Falconstar was dead?  
The strong, clever Falconstar, who had led the Clan for season after season, was dead?  
The medicine cat could hear cats whispering and growling, clearly not believing this news. She hardly believed it herself; how could Falconstar be dead? There hadn't been anything wrong with him...had there?  
_I'm such a terrible medicine cat!_  
Closing her eyes, she shook herself and padded outside to where the cats sat in a huddle outside the den. They were clearly trying to get in and see for themselves if their leader was really dead, but two senior warriors Stormsky and Ferntail were standing in the way, blocking any cat who tried to make a move to get inside. Redfeather pushed her way through the crowd of cats, who parted to let her go through, and was met by Ferntail, who grudgingly let her pass. She could hear some cats protesting, but ignored them and went inside.  
Yarrowleaf and Runningstream were already in, pacing around a dark shape on the floor, mewing something to each other. The dark shape, Redfeather realised, held the form of a cat's body, sprawled stiffly across the hard stone of the den. She padded forward to stand beside Runningstream, who looked up in surprise, then relaxed when she saw who it was. "Thank StarClan you've come," she meowed. "We have no idea what killed him. All we can see is that he's been coughing up blood, but because of what, I have no idea."  
"Let me see." The medicine cat took a step forward so she was closer to her dead leader, feeling chills ripple up her spine as the scent of death came at her in waves. She sniffed at his dull fur, trying to find any signs of illness, and then let her eyes travel up towards his head. Runningstream had been right; there was a thin trail of scarlet running from his mouth and trailing for about a mouse length on the ground before finishing. She bent down and sniffed it, then half recoiled in shock.  
"What's wrong?" Runningstream asked fearfully. Redfeather could feel her sister shaking beside her. "It's...it's..."  
The word she was looking for seemed to be stuck in her throat; she couldn't bring herself to utter it. How could the red string be what she had smelled while checking him over?  
However, her nose never lied.  
She swallowed. "It's deathberry juice."  
For a moment, there was silence in the cave. Redfeather's ears were ringing; she was practically begging in her head for some cat to say something when Yarrowleaf spoke for the first time. His voice was rough and scornful. "Deathberries? Redfeather, are you really mouse-brained enough to think that Falconstar would've eaten deathberries? He wouldn't-"  
"Since when did I say he ate them on purpose?" Redfeather interrupted, a little louder than she had meant it to come out. "Hang on; I need to check something."  
She padded around her leader's body, examining the area around him. The floor was gouged and scratched by Falconstar's claws; probably made when he was struggling after eating the berries; but that wasn't what Redfeather was looking for. The medicine cat finally saw it, kicked aside in a corner; the half-eaten remains of a rabbit.  
She hoped with all her heart that her theory wasn't true, and that the rabbit was just something that Falconstar had eaten earlier, but as she rolled it out with her paw, her nose told her that the scent clinging to the carcass was unmistakable. It matched the scent on the scarlet trail coming from Falconstar's mouth, and as she peered at the rabbit, she noticed that its belly had been neatly slit. Inside was a half-eaten deathberry, a whole one and a large mess of blood and berry juice, which was noticeably brighter than the blood itself. Closing her eyes briefly, she raised her head and looked back at the two cats in the den. "Come and see this."  
Runningstream half eagerly, half fearfully padded over to the spot, while Yarrowleaf followed behind, his eyes dark. Redfeather showed them the rabbit; it didn't take any words to tell them the obvious.  
Runningstream was the first to speak. "A-are you saying that someone from WindClan...?"  
The medicine cat gave a tiny nod, unable to speak.  
"We can't be sure a WindClan cat did this," Yarrowleaf began, but he was cut off by the medicine cat.  
"No," she corrected him. "The scent on this," she gestured to the rabbit, "is purely WindClan."  
"But who in WindClan would try to kill Falconstar?" The other she-cat's tail swished in fear.  
They didn't get any further with the discussion. A light cough from behind them made all three of them turn their heads. A shape was standing at the entrance, which Redfeather recognised as Stormsky, one of the cats who had been guarding the entrance. "Marshclaw's about to address the Clan," he announced. "Everyone's gathering below the Tallrock. You need to come now." His tone was brisk, and his face was unreadable.  
"We'll come," Redfeather meowed, "but first we have to-"  
"You can come back to what you're doing later," Stormsky growled, an edge of impatience to his mew. "Marshclaw has some important announcements to make. Every cat must come to listen."  
Redfeather opened her mouth to protest again, but Runningstream nudged her. "We'd better go," she whispered. The medicine cat reluctantly agreed and shut her jaws, turning away from the rabbit. The scent of death still hung strong in the air, masking any smell of poison, but as Redfeather turned away, another scent wafted into her nostrils. She froze, turned back sharply to the prey and sniffed deeply. Her eyes widened. There were two more scents on it besides the deathberries...  
"Redfeather!" Stormsky's voice was sharper now. "Marshclaw's waiting!"  
Frustration welled up through the medicine cat; couldn't she just check the rabbit for scents quickly? But the tom's face held a warning look, and she decided to abandon the investigation for the time being, and go back to it afterwards. She grudgingly followed the tom outside, her tail flicking in annoyance. Marshclaw was grooming a sticking-up patch of fur underneath the rock, his eyes gleaming slightly, making the hairs on Redfeather's neck prickle. She shook herself and padded over to sit with the Clan, positioning herself next to Ferntail who was watching the scene with her ears pricked. Marshclaw finished with his fur, stood up and leapt onto the top of the rock in one smooth motion. He dug his claws into the rock to keep his balance as his eyes swept over the cats below him.  
The whole camp was silent, waiting for their new leader to speak.  
Memories of the scents on the rabbit came back to Redfeather, but she pushed them away.  
"Cats of WindClan," Marshclaw began, his deep and clear voice ringing out around the camp. "Falconstar has just died, and as his deputy, I have no choice but to take on leadership of the Clan."  
"How did he die?" a cat yowled from the crowd. This was followed by several more yowls, which Marshclaw silenced by growling and raising his tail. "That is a very interesting question, and one I would very much like to know the answer to." His gaze cast around the group, and finally came to rest on Redfeather, who suddenly felt as if the whole sky had gone dark except for a beam of light which was fixed on her. His gaze seemed to strip her of all dignity, and she suddenly felt as if the whole world was staring at every hair on her pelt. She barely heard Marshclaw speaking. "Redfeather, I understand that you, Runningstream and Yarrowleaf went inside the den to look at Falconstar's body and check for things that may have caused his death. Could you report what you saw for us?"  
Redfeather swallowed and looked down at her paws, her belly churning. "Th-there was a rabbit there..."  
"Speak up, we can't hear you," an impatient elder named Mallowclaw yowled from the back.  
She raised her head and cleared her throat. "There was a rabbit there," she said, her voice shaking. "There were..." Her voice suddenly went quiet; she could bring herself to say the word.  
"What?" Thistlefur spoke, an edge to her mew. "Tell us, Redfeather."  
"Deathberries inside," she whispered, just loud enough for the front row of cats to hear.  
It was enough. The word 'deathberries' spread through the Clan like wildfire, and soon the whole clan was talking and protesting loudly, saying that there must've been some mistake, that it must've just been drying blood; or discussing who put them there, if they were from WindClan or otherwise. Her mew was drowned in a wave of other voices, until she heard Blackear rasp loudly, "Quiet! Let Redfeather speak!"  
She blinked gratefully at him. "The scent on the rabbit was definitely WindClan's," she announced, her voice clearer now. Her paws tingled. This was the moment; the moment when she could tell them that the cat they trusted most was a murderer, that he had put the berries in the rabbit, and his scent had been all over the fur, mixed in with another, much fainter scent...  
"So who was it?" Marshclaw asked calmly, not seeming to be fazed by the fact that he was just about to be revealed in front of the whole Clan.  
Redfeather looked up at him on the rock, and immediately regretted it.  
The look in his eyes froze her on the inside. It burned into her mind, warning her, telling her that if she even said anything...  
She couldn't do it. Her mouth wouldn't utter the words. She just stood there, frozen with her mouth half open, about to utter his name but unable to form the words because of the look that was paralysing her tongue.  
But the other scent.  
"It was..." She swallowed. Could she do it? Or would she face the wrath of their new leader?  
However, she knew that even if she decided to reveal who the true murderer was, she wouldn't even be able to form the words, let alone say them to the whole Clan.  
"Cheetahpaw," she meowed in a very small voice.  
All eyes turned to the spotted apprentice, who was standing, his eyes widening as more and more eyes fixed on the place where he stood. Even from here, the medicine cat could see he was shaking. Guilt welled up inside her. _I'm sorry!_ she wailed inwardly. _I'm sorry, Cheetahpaw. I couldn't do it. I'm so sorry._  
"Cheetahpaw," Marshclaw growled. "I would have never expected that of you."  
_He even manages to act mildly surprised!_  
The apprentice hung his head. Redfeather stared in at him in shock. _Why doesn't he say anything?_  
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"  
Cheetahpaw gave a tiny shake of his head.  
"In words, apprentice."  
"N-no, Marshclaw..."  
"Listen, Cheetahpaw," he growled, his tail swishing. "I have no idea why you would do such a thing to Falconstar, but whatever the reason, the punishment is simple. You must be exiled from WindClan."  
"No!" a she-cat wailed from the crowd whom Redfeather recognised as Leafheart, Cheetahpaw's mother. "Th-there must be some mistake! Why would Cheetahpaw try to kill Falconstar? Please, Marshclaw, have some sympathy-"  
"Enough!" Marshclaw's snarl made all the cats in the clearing freeze. None of them had seen him get this angry at another Clan member before. "Cheetahpaw, I've nothing else to say to you. Go."  
The apprentice stared at him, looking dazed as if he couldn't believe this was happening to him.  
"Go, you unworthy rogue," Marshclaw hissed at him.  
Cheetahpaw blinked at him, then got shakily to his paws and padded over to the camp entrance. He paused, turned, and just before stepping out of the tunnel his eyes came to rest on Redfeather, yellow merging with green.  
However much she tried to tell herself otherwise, Redfeather knew that the look he gave her would stay in her mind forever.  
The apprentice stared at her for a few more moments before turning and vanishing out into the forest. The last they saw was the black tip of his tail disappearing into the gorse.  
Marshclaw's gaze swept around the cats once again, and then fixed Leafheart with his amber stare. "And now," he growled, "to deal with you."


	4. Chapter three

Birdpaw's eyes had been fixed on the spot where Cheetahpaw had just been; she was startled by Marshclaw's voice addressed to Leafheart. She spun around in surprise as she heard him speak. What did he mean by 'deal with her'? Her heart pounded in her small chest as she waited for Marshclaw to do something.  
"Come to the bottom of the rock," the tom instructed, his amber eyes dark.  
The she-cat looked up at him in half surprise, half confusion and hesitantly got up, taking a few shaky steps toward the boulder. She stood there, looking up at him, shuffling her paws and glancing around nervously.  
Marshclaw leapt down from the rock and stared fiercely into Leafheart's eyes. Even from here, Birdpaw could see she was shaking. The silence seemed to last forever as the mottled warrior fixed the queen with his amber stare; no one saw his paw as he raised it, unsheathed his claws, and slashed Leafheart right across her face.  
A gasp echoed all around the cats as Leafheart let out a shriek of agony, backing away and turning her face to the side, raising one paw to try and protect her face from any more damage. Birdpaw's breath caught in her throat as she saw three red slashes cutting straight through the she-cat's fur, blood beginning to seep out and staining her white and tabby pelt scarlet. Leafheart whimpered, her eyes squeezed shut with the pain so she didn't see the second paw coming. Marshclaw slashed her again, leaving more scars. The third blow knocked her to the ground, where she lay, curled in a ball, shaking and whimpering as she waited for the fourth hit.  
It never came. Marshclaw let his paw fall to the ground, the tip stained with blood. "If you speak out against me, or something even more drastic," he meowed with a calm voice which sent shivers up the apprentice's spine, "you will get something much worse than this." He bent his face down to Leafheart's. "I went easy on you this time," he murmured, almost too quiet for Birdpaw to hear. "But, if you do it again, I'll make sure you get something twice as bad." Shifting his head, he grasped her scruff and roughly dragged her to the edge of the crowd, letting her fall to the ground with a soft thud. Birdpaw saw Redfeather trying to make her way over to her, but Marshclaw's growl made her freeze in her tracks.  
"Leave her," he growled. "She doesn't deserve your treatment." Licking the blood of his claws, he jumped back onto the rock. "Now, we must-"  
"M-Marshclaw?" Birdpaw suddenly found herself speaking, and immediately cursed herself for doing so. She was about to speak again, but guessed it would be safer to be granted permission. Leafheart's torture was still fresh in her mind.  
Marshclaw's head turned, and his gaze fixed on her. "Yes, Birdpaw?"  
The apprentice suddenly understood why cats were so traumatised when they looked into his eyes. They weren't just bright amber; they actually seemed to burn. She knew they didn't actually do you any harm, but to cats like Leafheart, and maybe Redfeather, they probably felt like they did.  
She looked away so she could speak without her mind being frazzled. "Forgive me for interrupting," she meowed, trying to keep her voice strong, "but will you rule us like this? Will cats be tortured like Leafheart if they speak out against you, or will you have some mercy? Not that I'm speaking out against you," she said quickly, finally managing to meet his eye. "I just thought-"  
"Silence." Marshclaw raised his tail. "I can understand that this new system may shock some of you a little, but it is more necessary than you may realise at first." He paused to clear his throat. "First of all, I would like to tell you that we will no longer have the warrior code in this Clan as you recognise it."  
His words were drowned by a chorus of yowls from the whole Clan except a few of the cats who were too stunned to speak. Birdpaw was one of the latter; how could a Clan live without the warrior code? They might as well be a bunch of uncivilised rogues.  
"But," Marshclaw called, raising his voice above the chatter, "we will still have a code." The yowling died down, and instead the cats turned to him and pricked their ears. "Our ancestors made the warrior code long ago," he continued. "It was created seasons and seasons ago, before the cats before us knew what things were going to be like now. How could they have predicted what their descendants would be like, and what they would've needed? They created the code to suit them, but it doesn't suit us perfectly just now. This one will be adapted to our needs."  
That calmed everyone down; it made it seem like he was just changing the code slightly, not taking it away completely. However, Birdpaw still remained suspicious. She hadn't forgotten how he treated Leafheart.  
"How will this code work?" Pebblefoot asked, his tone interested.  
"Most of the rules will be the same," Marshclaw replied. "I must add a few more, however. The first one shall be that the hunting shall only be for the newer warriors, and the apprentices. The rest of the cats may hunt as well, but feeding the Clan is not their priority, and they may eat while out hunting if they want. Secondly, the elders are no longer highly respected in the Clan."  
The second one caused a disturbance among the cats. One warrior known as Thistlefur called out, "But the elders need caring for!"  
"So does the rest of the Clan," Marshclaw reminded her. "And I never said the elders wouldn't be cared for, or respected; I just said they wouldn't be highly respected. They will be valued as all the Clan members, but not above the senior warriors, the guard, the deputy or the leader."  
"The guard?" a cat burst out.  
"Yes, the guard," Marshclaw replied. "Four warriors will be the main guard, stationed around my den. They will be classified as senior warriors, and will be above the normal warriors, who are above the apprentices."  
"So will the apprentices be the lowest rank?" Thistlefur questioned.  
"Pretty much. The apprentices will have the most to do for the Clan, much like normal, but with a few tasks added. These will be explained later." The leader licked his paw. "The guard members will be Yarrowleaf, Ferntail, Stormsky and Nightspots."  
"But Nightspots only became a warrior two moons ago!" Pebblefoot protested, and then looked embarrassed and alarmed that he'd spoken aloud.  
Marshclaw didn't take any notice. Birdpaw could hardly believe what she was hearing. Apprentices being the lowest priority in the Clan? A whole new group of warriors to protect the leader? Elders losing their respect? What was this?  
A croaky, frail but still defiant voice sounded from the back of the crowd. "You're wrong!"  
Hollysong!  
The she-cat's tail was raised defiantly. "You can't do this," she rasped. "StarClan gave us the code; you can't just change it like this! There was never meant to be another group of warriors, and apprentices should be just as respected as the other cats. Cats like Leafheart shouldn't be tortured and beaten like this; cats should be allowed to have their own opinions! You're a heartless leader, Marshclaw, and shouldn't be permitted to rule a Clan!"  
A shocked silence greeted her words. Marshclaw's amber eyes burned into the elder's milky green ones. He jumped down from the rock and padded towards her, straight and deliberate. Cats he passed shrank back, as if he was on fire and they didn't want him to touch them, intimidated by the powerful aura that seemed to radiate off of his pelt. Soon, there were no more cats standing in his path, and he stepped forward, staring at Hollysong. Amazingly, she didn't look away, and held his gaze, but Birdpaw could see how much it pained her to do so.  
"Don't try to do your eye trick with me," the elder growled, still standing tall. "It has no effect."  
She's lying.  
Marshclaw growled. "If it has no effect," he meowed calmly, "then why are you shaking?"  
The elder took longer to respond this time, and Marshclaw took his chance. Raising his paw, he tried to slash Hollysong's face like he had done with Leafheart, but the elder jerked away, only just catching the blow which left her with a small cut on her face. She turned back to him and growled, lashing out with her own paw, something that Marshclaw wasn't expecting. He gave a yowl of anger as her claws slashed him on his face, leaving a scar on his nose, dangerously close to his eye. But the blow wasn't as strong as a full-trained warrior's, and Marshclaw quickly recovered. The blow had made him even more powered up than before.  
The warrior struck.  
The first blow caught Hollysong on the side of her face as she turned away, trying to protect her eyes. She hissed, but didn't yowl in pain like Leafheart. Birdpaw admired her courage, but she knew the elder wouldn't be able to take it for much longer.  
The second blow caught her shoulder, almost felling her.  
The third blow was to her head. She staggered, blood dripping into her eyes, and looked up at him.  
"You realise," she hissed, pain laced in every word, "that if you kill me, you'll only have my dead body, not my obedience?"  
Marshclaw's eyes narrowed. "That may be," he growled, "but it also gets rid of a disrespectful mouth. Which, if you ask me, this Clan could do without."  
And then, he raised his paw, and unleashed his full force on the weakening elder.  
The fourth blow felled her. She was down. He slashed at her, tearing at her shoulders, her face, her neck, her ears. The defeated elder lay in the dirt, too weak to protect herself, and still clenching her teeth to avoid screeching. Birdpaw's eyes widened; how could she withstand the blows without making a noise?  
Marshclaw hadn't stopped.  
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!  
Hollysong's fur was matted with blood. Scarlet liquid, dripping from her wounds, pooling on the ground next to her as Marshclaw hit her again and again. He didn't stop, each blow falling as hard as the previous one, and more and more as the elder weakened further.  
Suddenly, he halted in mid-blow, his paw half-raised. "Had enough yet? If you give in now, maybe I won't kill you. I am not the heartless leader you think I am, Hollysong. I have a few drops of mercy in me, and I will use them on you if you give in."  
The tortured elder's eyes were unfocused, glazed. Birdpaw blinked. Is she dead? But the fur on her flank was still rising and falling with each ragged breath she took, and you could hear her breathing from across the clearing.  
"Had enough?" Marshclaw growled, leaning down so his muzzle was next to her ear.  
Cats were crowding around, trying to get a better look at what was happening. Birdpaw wriggled through the mass of bodies until she was at the front, and poked her head out between Ferntail and Pebblefoot to get a better look.  
Hollysong was lying bleeding in the dirt, breathing heavily. Her eyes held a strange look, distant, glazed but not lifeless. She mumbled something.  
"What?" Marshclaw leaned in closer.  
Hollysong mumbled again, her eyes growing wider. Birdpaw felt her fur prickle. Something wasn't right. She felt as if something was there other than the cats, something with a powerful presence...  
The elder murmured her words a little louder. "A dripping claw..." Suddenly, Hollysong sat bolt upright.  
The cats jerked back in alarm.  
"A dripping claw shall cover the eyes," the she-cat croaked, her eyes wide and unfocused. Her voice was distant, sending chills down Birdpaw's spine. "A-a dripping claw..." Even Marshclaw seemed confused by this. His eyes were dark, and there was a frown etched across his face.  
Hollysong hadn't finished. She flopped in the dirt; any cat who saw her now would think she was mad. Suddenly, she let out an unbroken stream of words, one by one, an unstoppable river flowing from her open jaws.

"A dripping claw shall cover the eyes  
With hate and betrayal, smooth with lies.  
The fast one shall flee on the brink of defeat  
But will return strong, if the vow is complete.  
Young ones will perish, the Dark One is drawn  
As the bird swoops to a bright new dawn.  
The eye of the moon shall be all that remains  
As the winds of the past are trapped in chains."

With those parting words, Hollysong went into spasm; her limbs tensed up, her mouth opened, her eyes grew impossibly wide, and then she fell, flopped on the ground.  
Hollysong was dead, and her dying words had been a seemingly unsolvable prophecy.


	5. Chapter four

Cheetahpaw took one last look at the camp as he reached the top of the hill, his gaze full of remorse. He could still see a few small spots in camp, all grouped in one area, and guessed that Marshclaw was now 'dealing' with Leafheart. He had heard the brown tom's last words, and they had send shivers up his spine. What did it mean, 'deal with her'?  
His questions were answered as a pained screech rose up to meet him on the hill. He flinched, pressing his ears down onto his head to block out the sounds. The screech was unmistakably his mother. There was another screech, then another, and then silence. He closed his eyes, not wanting to listen any longer, and fled over the hill, away from the camp, away from the place he had been born, away from the place that had been his home for all of his life.  
Part of him wanted to go back there and find out what had happened to his mother, but he knew half the Clan would kill him if he went back there. Leafheart was his mother, and the one cat who had stood up for him when Marshclaw had sentenced him into exile, when all the other cats had just sat and watched it happen.  
And Redfeather.  
She was the one who had said his name, blamed it all on him, Falconstar's death, all of it. He wasn't the one who had put the deathberries inside, and he had no idea who had done it. Someone must've had the rabbit before him, and left it on the pile for a cat to eat. But why just leave it there? Any cat could pick it up and eat it. The rabbit must've been meant for Falconstar specially.  
But then who did it?  
The answer drifted into his head like a floating leaf.  
Marshclaw.  
Of course.  
Who would believe that a new apprentice like himself would've tried to kill the leader? Of course, they wouldn't listen to him, but if the leader and medicine cat agreed on the same thing, then of course the Clan would accept it to be true. And why would Marshclaw put the blame on an apprentice? To cover up for himself.  
Cheetahpaw wanted to race back down there and tell them what really happened, but something stopped him. The Clan would never believe him. The word of the medicine cat and the leader was enough.  
He padded away from the edge of the hill. Where would he go? He couldn't go to one of the other Clans; they wouldn't accept him and Marshclaw would probably hunt him down. He could go up past the Moonpool, but there were a lot of trees there and he was no ThunderClan cat. He needed hills to run on, places that he was familiar with.  
He remembered an elder's story of two cats from different Clans who had ran away to a land beyond WindClan to be together, but ended up going back to help their Clans in a badger attack. He couldn't remember their names, but he knew the direction they had gone in. They had gone east, past the WindClan border to another expanse of hills and lived there for a few days. According to the elders, they had survived rather well there before returning to the lake. He decided to go in the same direction; maybe he could find a life there as well.  
He began to pad briskly away from camp, in the direction he thought was east. He hadn't been out of camp that many times so he wasn't all too familiar with the landscape and direction, so he soon found himself lost. It didn't matter though; it wasn't like he had a home to get back to. He wandered among the gorse bushes and scrub, away in his own little world as he walked. Soon, the remotely familiar territory of the hills merged into rock and stone, although he didn't notice the difference until he stumbled over a sharp rock. The apprentice mewed in surprise and pain as it cut into his pad and made him stumble, trip and fall sprawling onto the grass.  
He lay, dazed for a while among the brittle grass stems and pebbles, not too sure what had just happened. The full blow of everything was beginning to sink in.  
He had been exiled from the only home he had ever had. Something terrible was happening back at camp at this very moment. He was lost in unfamiliar territory. He had been betrayed by his own Clanmates.  
Do I have anything more to lose?  
Cheetahpaw suddenly realised how cold he was. His paw was throbbing, and as he tried to stumble to his feet, his stomach let out a loud rumble. He was cold, tired, hungry, and an easy target for predators.  
I have to find a place to rest.  
The apprentice began to limp onwards, his paw protesting with every step he took. The spiky grass pricked at it, making the pain worse, but he tried to force it out of his mind, carrying on with his seemingly endless trek across the land. His eyes narrowed as the wind picked up, not helping the fact that he was already cold. The apprentice's cream-coloured paws became numb; he could barely feel his paw anymore as he stumbled across the stones and vegetation. The land had become darker, and as he looked up, he noticed that the sky was filled with dark storm clouds.  
Just what I need.  
He padded on a few more paces, his eyes fixed on the sky. However, he wasn't prepared for when the dense, low-growing bushes and grass he was walking on began to slip from underneath his paws. He stopped in surprise, but it was too late as the bushes gave way and his injured paw plunged through the plants, giving Cheetahpaw a little preview of what he had stumbled into. He had walked right into the bushes that surrounded a sheer, large cliff.  
Mewing in fear, the apprentice began to struggle. He yanked his paw out of the twigs and leaves and began to scrabble at the bush in a haste to get back to solid ground, but the plant couldn't hold his weight and sagged below him, beginning to disintegrate below his paws. He cried out in terror and made a huge, desperate leap for an apprentice of his size, lunging for the edge of the cliff which he only just grasped. The bush fell away just as he found a grip, but now he was in an equally dangerous position as he dangled from the rim, digging in his claws as he tried to keep a hold on the smooth surface. With one desperate heave, he hauled himself up and over the edge where he lay on the grass, panting and whimpering in a mixture of relief and terror. After a while, he stumbled shakily to his paws and crept over to the edge, glancing around nervously as if making sure nothing was going to push him off, and looked over at the land below.  
"Fox-dung...I never knew there were cliffs out here," he murmured to himself.  
The landscape below where he sat didn't look that much different from where he was at that moment, but it was a very long way down. The apprentice gulped as he thought about what could've happened to him if he had missed the cliff and grasped at empty air instead, but he shook the thought off and turned away from the drop.  
Straight to the amber gaze of a fox.  
For a moment, neither of them moved. Cheetahpaw felt his limbs freeze as he stared at the russet-coloured animal, which was staring ferociously back at him, its eyes gleaming. A snarl began to build up in its chest.  
It's hungry, Cheetahpaw realized. And if I don't run now, I'm going to be its next meal!  
The fox barked and lunged. Snapped out of the amber-eyed trance, the apprentice turned tail and fled around the edge of the cliff closer into the land, the animal's jaws snapping barely two tail-lengths away from his rear. If Cheetahpaw had been an older apprentice with longer legs and stronger limbs, he might've been able to outrun the creature or at least get back to camp to alert other cats, but he was a new apprentice, just barely out of the nursery, with short kit-legs that weren't used to vigorous exercise. And to add to that, he had no Clan to run home to.  
But he didn't want to be picked up and tossed aside like a mouse. He would have to fight if he stood any chance of saving himself. His paw was screaming at him to stop, and his muscles were beginning to ache from all the running.  
He spun around, gave his most fierce battle cry and raised his non-injured paw, aiming a slash at the fox's eyes.  
The fox easily dodged his clumsy attempt at fighting and darted in again, snapping at his throat. Cheetahpaw jerked back, lost his balance and tripped, falling backwards and landing with his throat exposed. There was no time for him to get up.  
The fox lunged. The spotted apprentice raised a paw to protect his throat; it was the best thing he could've done in those circumstances if he wanted to survive. The fox's vicious teeth sank right into his paw, earning a screech of pain from the tom. With his other front paw Cheetahpaw struck out again, this time slicing through the creature's soft black nose. The fox let out a cry that was half a yelp, half a snarl as it jerked back, shaking its head as blood tricked out of the new wound. This gave time for Cheetahpaw to get back to his paws, although his triumph did not last long. The taste of its own blood had only made the fox angrier than ever and it charged at the apprentice once again. Cheetahpaw did the only thing he could think of and crawled into a gorse bush, wincing as the branches pricked at his fur as he inched deeper inside, as far away from the fox's sharp teeth as he could get. The animal tore at the bush and snarled in frustration as the spiky branches poked at its face, deterring it and forcing it to pad around and around, searching for a way in.  
As he crawled through the bush, Cheetahpaw saw what he thought looked like a large black spot in the ground. He blinked, his eyes blurring with exhaustion and managed to make out a hole, probably belonging to some kind of animal. He edged his way forward to the mouth of the hole and sniffed carefully, confident that the fox would be distracted for a while as it tried to get in. It smelt of badger; one of the first scents that Thistlefur had ever taught him, but the scent was stale, telling him that the set was probably abandoned. Weak and exhausted, Cheetahpaw crawled inside and stopped when he came to the main cavern. Flopping down amongst the dried grass and roots, he shut the fox's frustrated snarling out of his mind, and was asleep in moments despite the pain of his injuries.  
Even the booming thunder couldn't wake him as the storm clouds unleashed their fury. It began to rain.


	6. Chapter five

"Hey, are you deaf? Hey, idiot. Hey. Hey. Spotty."

The apprentice opened his eyes and was immediately aware of the pain in his muscles. He was almost too stiff to move, and for a moment he forgot where he was. However, his vision soon focused and he realised that there was another cat in front of him. Its eyes, two orbs of yellow, stared at him, tinged with annoyance. He stared into them for a few seconds before the cat prodded him. "What's up? Frozen tongue?"

The cat was a male, but a young one since his voice was still higher pitched. Cheetahpaw blinked and tried to sit up, but his sore legs failed him. "Who are you?"

"More like who are you?" The cat stepped back and examined him. "You're definitely not from around here, and you look pretty tired. Cold, too."

The former apprentice hadn't realised it until then, but he was shivering uncontrollably. "I-I'm an exile," he croaked, his voice hoarse. "I come from the lake."

"That would explain why you're soaked," the other cat joked. Cheetahpaw internally rolled his eyes. He tried to sit up again but the newcomer raised a paw and shook his head. "You don't have to move. You really look terrible, you know."

"Thanks," the spotted cat replied under his breath. He allowed himself to get a better look at the cat. He wasn't a kittypet; his body was too lean and his fur too rough-looking. He was a dull greyish-brown colour with the ghosts of tabby markings along his figure. There was a small scar on his left ear and a notch at the top, but nothing to suggest violent battles. His fur was thick, but not fluffy.

The tabby gave a slightly lopsided smile. "I'm Rising. Who're you?"

The former Clan cat stopped himself from saying Cheetahpaw. He was no longer an apprentice and therefore shouldn't have a Clan name. As much as he didn't want to, he would have to go by something else. "I-I'm…" His mind whirled, trying to find a suitable name. "Light. My name's Light."

"Hang on." Rising frowned and peered at him. "Didn't you say you were from the lake? Don't they have weird names there?"

Mouse-dung. "W-well, I guess… but I'm not there anymore, a-am I? I can't call myself by my former name anymore."

"What was your name when you weren't an exile?" The other cat leaned forward, his whiskers twitching. The spotted cat paused, unsure of whether to tell him. Rising seemed to sense his reluctance and said "You know what, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'll call you Light, then. Hi, Light."

"Um, h-hi." The newly named Light tried to move again, but Rising placed a paw on his shoulder. "What did I tell you about moving? You need to rest. Or, at least, that's what my mother would say if I were in your position." He stepped over the former apprentice.

For a brief moment, Light recalled his own mother and remembered the shriek he had heard shortly after leaving the camp. He squeezed his eyes shut to try and block out the memory, and then he felt something warm pressing against his back. He started in surprise and realised that Rising was lying down next to him.

"You look freezing." The tabby was no less forward and cheerful. "My mother would curl up next to me if I were cold."

"You talk a lot about your mother," Light thought aloud, then clamped his jaw shut. There was a small hesitation and then Rising spoke again. "I admire her. I live with my siblings now since she couldn't take care of us, but she's strong and kind."

After a slightly longer silence, Light said in a small voice: "Why couldn't she take care of you?"

There was no answer. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Rising's eyes were closed, his flank rising and falling at a steady rate. If he was pretending to be asleep, he was doing a good job of it.

Light turned his head back and rested it on his paws, letting his eyelids droop. He shifted slightly to get comfortable, and then relaxed into a good position. He was still tired, so going to sleep wasn't a very big problem. He felt blackness gradually begin to numb his mind, and eventually, he fell into a slumber.

The leaves rustled loudly as Birdpaw leapt from the cover of a bush at a brown figure, which immediately stopped feeding on grass and ran in blind panic. The apprentice stretched out her front paws to grab the rabbit, but landed just short of its fluffy tail and began to chase after it. Outrunning rabbits may not be a problem for WindClan warriors, but she was still only an apprentice. She hadn't even been to a Gathering yet, despite the fact that there had been two so far in her training moons. She slowed when it became evident that she had no hope of catching up to the prey and watched it run away from her, fleeing into a hole not far away.

She growled in frustration and slashed at a long piece of grass. The only thing she had been able to catch was a small mouse, which had been injured and unable to get away. It wasn't an impressive feat at all, and she had to take back more than that or she wouldn't be able to eat. That was another rule of the warrior code altered by Marshclaw – well, Marshstar now – the apprentices weren't allowed to eat unless they'd caught enough to sustain a full-grown warrior. The way it was explained to them, it seemed like apprentices could go for multiple days without eating unless they caught enough. She swallowed, wondering what would happen when Leaf-bare arrived.

Her muscles still ached from the journey to the Moonpool which she had made last night. Along with Slatepaw, her brother, she had travelled there to accompany Marshstar and Redfeather. They had barely spoken to each other along the way, but it was clear that Marshstar had been accepted by StarClan. There was a glow in his eyes and a powerful aura about him which he didn't have before he'd fallen asleep by the pool. It only made him more intimidating.

Birdpaw sniffed the air and smelled the fresh scent of rabbit. She began to follow the trail, hoping to find something worthwhile along the way. So far, no apprentice had failed to catch the required amount, and she certainly wasn't going to be the first.

After about a minute of following the trail, she found a rabbit sitting under a bush, happily munching on grass. It was right near its warren; Birdpaw would have to be cautious. She dropped into a crouch and slunk closer toward it, glancing at the ground every so often to make sure there wasn't anything below her which could make a loud noise. She dug her claws into the ground, and sprang.

Again, she landed short and the rabbit began to flee. However, instead of chasing after it, she jumped again and this time landed on top of her prey. After dealing a killing bite to the neck, she stood up with the carcass in her jaws and began to retrace her steps. She glanced at the sun's position in the sky. It was time to head back to camp.

After retrieving her tiny mouse, she began to make her way back. She padded cautiously through the camp entrance, half expecting there to be another sort of incident where Marshstar would be clawing at another cat in the centre of the clearing, but there was nothing. Cats were going about their duties, but there was an uneasy atmosphere. Birdpaw tried her best to ignore it as she made her way to the fresh kill pile and placed the rabbit and mouse down.

"Birdpaw!" She looked up to see her mentor, Yarrowleaf, beckoning to her from the edge of the clearing. She walked over to him and waited for him to speak.

"We're going to be combat training in the small clearing," he mewed.

Birdpaw stared at him in surprise. "Now?" She'd just gotten back from hunting and she was tired.

"Yes, now. Follow me." Yarrowleaf turned and began to walk toward the camp entrance. Birdpaw reluctantly followed, her tail drooping.

The small clearing was another grassy area surrounded by bushes; like the camp, but smaller. It was where apprentices trained when they weren't going out onto the moors, although as they got older this clearing was used less and less as they had to learn how to fight in the main territory. The mentor and apprentice stopped once they were inside and Yarrowleaf turned to the side, leaning down and picking up a long, thin stick, placing it in between him and the dark tabby.

"See this?" he said to her, laying his paw on the stick. "You have to get over to the other side of it – to my side. I will be trying to keep you on your side. Try and use whatever fighting techniques I've taught you so far."

She nodded, readying herself.

"Go."

Birdpaw attempted to dart around her mentor at first, but he easily swiped her paws from under her with little effort, causing her to fall onto the ground with a thump.

"That was pitiful."

She gritted her teeth. Yarrowleaf wasn't exactly a very encouraging mentor, but she was used to it. Tensing her muscles, she leapt for him, trying to somehow get over him instead of past him. She felt him grasp one of her hind paws lightly in his jaws and attempt to throw her on the ground, but she flailed with her front paws and managed to grab his shoulders, biting his ear but not hard enough to draw blood. He immediately dropped and rolled over; she had to jump off quickly to avoid getting squashed. She tried to leap past him while he was getting up, but he was quicker than she thought and hooked her paws from under her again. She fell on the ground once more.

"That was better, but still poor. Try again."

Birdpaw jumped up and readied herself again. She was ready to spring, and then she remembered something.

Yarrowleaf had been in Falconstar's den with Redfeather when they checked the rabbit. When Redfeather had said Cheetahpaw had brought the rabbit to Falconstar, she had looked scared and a little uncertain. Birdpaw didn't know how many cats noticed this, but she knew they needed more proof. Cheetahpaw had only been an apprentice for just less than a moon. What reason would he have for killing Falconstar?

"Yarrowleaf?" she began hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"You were in Falconstar's den when Redfeather checked the rabbit, right?"

His eyes narrowed. "Yes, I was. Why?"

"A-are you…" She swallowed, remembering that he was also one of Marshstar's senior warriors. "Are you sure it was Cheetahpaw's scent on it?"

"Of course I am." Yarrowleaf stared down at her. "Do you doubt our medicine cat?"

"N-no! Of course not," Birdpaw stammered quickly. "I just thought… it doesn't seem like something Cheetahpaw would do. Do you think…" She paused. "Do you think he could have had help from inside of WindClan?"

There was a pause before Yarrowleaf responded. "That's an interesting theory and one I've considered myself," he replied thoughtfully. "Cheetahpaw never seemed like the sort who would kill his leader like that. It's very likely."

"Someone close to Marshstar?" Birdpaw blurted out. She then clamped her mouth shut. She'd said too much.

Yarrowleaf's thoughtful gaze turned into one of anger. He stared into her eyes for what seemed like an eternity before growling: "Birdpaw, go back to camp."

She took a step back. She'd never seen him like this before.

"Now!" he spat.

She turned tail and raced out of the clearing.


	7. Allegiances because I forgot

**So I'm a giant derp and forgot to put the allegiances up at the beginning, so I'm just going to put them here. Sorry about that!**

WindClan;  
Leader: **Falconstar-** light brown tabby tom (lives: 1)  
Deputy: **Marshclaw-** mottled dark brown tom  
Medicine cat: **Redfeather-** reddish she-cat with long, soft fur  
apprentice- **Vinepaw**  
Warriors:  
**Ferntail-** gray patched she-cat with green eyes  
**Yarrowleaf-** small grayish-brown tom  
apprentice- **Birdpaw**  
**Leafheart-** tabby and white she-cat  
apprentice- **Slatepaw**  
**Stormsky-** gray tabby tom with a black tipped tail  
**Runningstream-** light brown she-cat with darker stripes going down her spine  
**Thistlefur-** brown speckled she-cat with long spiky fur  
apprentice- **Cheetahpaw**  
**Pebblefoot-** light dappled gray tom, blue eyes  
**Nightspots-** very dark gray tom, black speckles  
Apprentices:  
**Vinepaw-** lean dark brown tom, green eyes {medicine cat apprentice}  
**Slatepaw-** very dark gray tom  
**Birdpaw-** sleek, dark brown tabby she-cat  
**Cheetahpaw-** golden tom with unusual light brown spots  
Queens:  
**Featherheart-** silver tabby she-cat, expecting Stormsky's kits  
Elders:  
**Mallowclaw-** golden tom with a bent, twisted tail  
**Hollysong-** black she-cat with white paws  
**Blackear-** black tom with amber eyes


	8. Chapter six

**Yeah, the formatting changed in the last chapter. I've had the first few chapters written for a long time, and now my new computer changes the presentation. I think it's better and I might go back and make the first few chapters less wall-of-text-like if I can be bothered. /lazy**

**Also sorry for the allegiances fail. I meant to put them up at the beginning of the story but I forgot, so they're after chapter 5 instead. They list how the Clan is like after the prologue but before the first chapter, so just pretend they're there. Sorry about that.**

**Disclamer: I do not own Warriors.**

"Light. Light, wake up. Now."

The urgency in Rising's tone caused Light's head to rise without much persuasion. "What's wrong?"

The dusty tabby's ears were pricked and his eyes were wide. His shoulders were stiff, not relaxed like they had been when Light first met him. He looked worried. "Light, you have to hide."

"Huh?" The spotted cat blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"Just do it!" Rising begged. "Please, this is important. Don't hide too far away, but you can't be seen from where I am."

"But…"

"Go!" Rising shouldered him to the side and Light stumbled into a gorse bush, wincing as the twigs pricked his legs. He crouched down and wormed his way through the leaves, crawling through it and trying his best to cover himself. The bush was uncomfortable and he felt things jabbing him from all sides, but he tried his best to ignore it. He turned around and to his relief he could just about make out Rising from where he was. The tabby hadn't moved, but as soon as Light turned to watch him be walked out of the bushy overhang.

Light suddenly remembered that he hadn't fallen asleep among some bushes; there had been an abandoned badger's set nearby and he had crawled inside to escape the fox. But when he woke up, he was soaking wet and lying among twigs and leaves. He guessed Rising had probably dragged him out; the cat seemed like the type who would be stronger than he looked.

As quietly as he could manage, the former apprentice crawled toward the edge of the gorse until he could make out Rising's figure once again.

The small cat spoke. "Father?"

Light stiffened as he made out another figure facing Rising. This cat was a lot bigger than the small tabby, and his pelt was a dark grey colour. A voice answered. "Rising. There you are."

There was the sound of claws slicing skin and a yelp of pain. Light's eyes widened in alarm as he saw the much bigger cat lash out at his supposed son, claws unsheathed. Rising's head was slapped to the side and even from here the shining streaks of red were visible on the small tabby's face.

"Where have you been?" Rising's father growled.

"I'm sorry, Father. I went for a walk."

The smaller cat was struck again, but this time on his shoulder so he fell onto the ground. He didn't whimper or scream – he just lay there.

"And you stayed the night out here?" His father leaned down and began to sniff him. Light tensed. The large cat then raised his head. "I can smell another cat on you." He wasn't raising his voice, but it had a tone to it which made the hairs on the back of Light's neck stand up.

Rising said nothing, and the bigger cat raised his paw again.

Light didn't want to watch this happen anymore. He saw an opening in the gorse bush and pulled himself through, ignoring when a twig got stuck in his pad. He bounded up to the pair. "Please stop!" he begged Rising's father. "He hasn't done anything wrong."

He glanced down at the tabby, who stared at him with wide eyes of alarm. There was a long silence.

The huge grey cat padded around his son and sniffed Light's fur. "You're the cat he's been with for the whole night." He frowned. "Where are you from?"

The spotted cat's sudden burst of confidence was beginning to leave him and he had to dig his claws into the ground to keep himself from shaking. "Th-the lake."

"You're a Clan cat?"

He gave a small nod. "I-I was. N-not any more, though." _Should I have stayed hidden? What's he going to do to me?_

"Father, please don't hurt him," Rising said quietly.

"Silence," the tom growled. He stared at Light. His eyes were the same yellow as Rising's, but not at all friendly looking. They were haunting, glaring. Not the searing fire which was Marshclaw's eyes, but they were still intimidating and hostile.

"Come with us," he growled at the former apprentice. "You seem like you have potential. Rising could learn a thing or two from you."

Light stared back at him, his mouth hanging open. He quickly, closed it, not sure how to respond. The tom hadn't exactly given him a choice, and he didn't really have anywhere else to go. He swallowed.

Rising tried to get up, but his father turned around with a snarl. "Know your place," he spat. "Stay there." He turned back to Light and twitched his ears impatiently. "Come on, then." He turned and began to pad away, his tail swishing behind him. He passed his son and prodded him. "Get up." The tabby scrabbled to his paws, his face still bleeding. He glanced at Light and mouthed 'Sorry' at him before turning and following his dad.

Light quickly followed, suddenly becoming aware of the pain in his paw. He was too scared of the big tom to stop, however, and carried on walking while trying to bear the pain. He hoped it wasn't too far to their home; he didn't want to have to deal with this for long.

Fortunately, their den wasn't too far off. Rising's father stopped by a fallen log and a cluster of ferns and stuck his head inside. "Gorse!"

There was a lot of rustling and a head poked out of the ferns, followed by shoulders and then a lean body and finally a long tail. The she-cat blinked in surprise when she looked at the three of them; her eyes rested on Light and she padded over to him, sniffing him cautiously. "Who are you?"

"I-I'm-" Light's stutter was cut off by the large grey cat. "Gorse, don't ignore me. Why was Rising wandering around the moors with no supervision?"

The she-cat looked up at her mate and held his gaze calmly. "I don't hold full responsibility over him anymore. You know this."

Her mate growled in annoyance. "Full responsibility, no, but still some. It's your duty to know what the kits are doing. I don't want to walk past a clump of bushes and see one of them sleeping there – especially not with a lake cat!" He angrily jabbed his tail at Light, who flinched away instinctively. He didn't want to be here at all. He wanted to be back in the Clan with his family and Clanmates, not out in the wild with rogues who he knew virtually nothing about. He glanced at Rising. The tabby's eyes were fixed on the floor, his cheery attitude from before gone.

"You're too overprotective, Steel." The female's eyes narrowed and she took a step toward him, leaning up into his face. "I don't want our children to be smothered with care and gifts. If they need help, they will come and ask for it, and I'll be more than happy to give my assistance." Her voice held an odd tone to it – one Light didn't hear often. She sounded confident and clear. It made him respect her. "Rising is fine, if a little wet." She looked at Light. "However, I'm curious about him. Who are you?" she asked the spotted tom.

His mouth was dry for a few moments and he wasn't prepared to speak, causing him to stutter a bit before getting his words out. "I-I'm Light."

She nodded and turned back to her mate. "He seems fine. I don't know why being a lake cat makes him suddenly worse than us."

"It doesn't," Steel growled. "It makes me trust him less. We never see lake cats around here." He turned to the side and stalked up to Light, who cowered slightly in his shadow. "Why are you here?"

Again, his throat was dry. "I-I-I was exiled," he croaked, then cleared his throat.

"Why?"

He blinked, unsure of how to put it into words. The inquiring stares of the two cats didn't help. "I-it was for something I d-didn't do," he murmured quietly. "The leader of our Clan died and I was blamed for it. B-but it wasn't me, I-I promise!" He didn't want to be sent out into the wild again. Even here was better than alone. Rising seemed nice enough. He had yet to meet his siblings, but he didn't want to be on his own.

Steel glared suspiciously at the spotted cat, but Gorse stepped forward. "He's telling the truth. He's just a kit – why would he kill his leader?" She frowned. "And why did your Clan think you did it in the first place?"

Light swallowed and told them about the rabbit and Marshclaw. He realised how hungry he was and tried to ignore it for the time being. "Redfeather, our medicine cat… she checked for scents on the rabbit. She must have smelled Marshclaw's as well as mine, but she said I did it." He stopped to gather his thoughts. "I don't know why she said that. I've never done anything to her, or anyone, at least not that I can remember. But she's the reason Marshclaw is now ruling the Clan and I'm out here, and if Marshclaw killed Falconstar then the whole Clan is in danger from him."

Rising was staring at him with his mouth slightly open in surprise. The hostile look had almost faded from Steel's eyes and was instead replaced by curiosity, but he still didn't look at all friendly.

Gorse spoke. "If it were only up to me," she mewed, "I would let you stay. But we need everyone's opinion."

There was a pause before Rising said quietly "I want him to stay."

His father gave him a disapproving glance, probably because he had spoken before him, and then turned back to Light. He looked over him once more and frowned before saying "I'm not completely sure about you, but I'll let you stay for a few days. If you haven't proven yourself by then, you will have to leave."

_Proven myself? _Light wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that, but he was being offered shelter, and he wasn't about to turn it down. He dipped his head. "Thank you."

"Rising, you'll be making sure he knows where he's going," Gorse told her son. She looked at Light and said "Since you'll be with Rising, you won't be here most of the time. I can't take care of you for various reasons." Glancing at her son, she mewed "Show him around. You should know which landmarks are important."

Rising nodded quickly. "Okay." He sniffed the air. "Are the others still out?"

"Juniper and Lance aren't coming back any time soon," his mother replied. "Be careful; I want them to meet Light when I'm there. You know how they are around newcomers."

Light guessed that Juniper and Lance must be Rising's siblings. He wondered what they were like; from what Gorse had said, they seemed hostile and unfriendly like their father. He hoped this wasn't the case – he didn't want to feel anymore unwelcome than he already did.

"What about Kite?" Rising mewed quietly.

Steel let out a low growl. His mate frowned at him and then spoke to her son. "He's still gone." Her kind tone had changed to blunt and she didn't look Rising in the eye. Light shifted awkwardly from paw to paw. _Is Kite his sibling too? Did he do something?_

Rising said nothing. He turned and beckoned to the former apprentice with his tail. "Come on."

Light followed him away from the log and through the small bushes surrounding the area. He wondered if it was a good idea to stay with this family; from the sound of it, they had enough problems to deal with already without having a seven moons old, socially awkward kit living with them. Did Rising have to deal with his father like this on a regular basis? He felt a twinge of pity for the young cat.

As he was leaving, he heard a snarl from behind, causing his ears to prick up. He could hear Steel talking, although he was too far away to make out sentences. Straining to listen, he picked out the words "traitor", "lake" and "kill". The fur on the back of his neck prickled. _They're talking about me, aren't they? _

He turned around and peered through the bushes. He could only make out shapes from where he was, but he still could see Steel as he growled and lashed out at Gorse, who turned her head to the side as he caught her on the muzzle. Flattening his ears, Light turned away and hurried after Rising, not wanting to be caught up in his family issues.

This was going to be awkward.

**Whew, finally done! This chapter wasn't very interesting because I had to drag it out (since there are certain events which I only want to take place in the next chapter) so yeah…**


	9. Chapter seven

Today was colder than the previous ones.

Birdpaw crouched on the slightly frosted ground, shuffling her paws to keep them from becoming numb. She could dimly hear Marshstar talking about some new rule, something about introducing kits to training sessions when they were 4 moons old, but she didn't care that much. Marshstar wanted to keep WindClan strong, and this was apparently a suitable way of doing it. The kits wouldn't be apprentices; it would just be a kind of training practice. As long as they weren't hurt in the training, she was okay with it.

The past few days had drained her considerably of motivation. Her belly rumbled; she hadn't been able to catch anything the day before and as a result hadn't been allowed to eat anything. She was hungry, not to mention tired from the extra training. Apprentices were now allowed, and supposed, to use their claws in combat practice, and her shoulder stung slightly from where Slatepaw had clawed her from this morning. Her brother had apologised and promised to be more careful next time, but his tone had been strange and his eyes had shown barely any regret.

She hadn't realised the meeting was over until she saw everyone beginning to leave the crowd. She stood up too, stretching her legs to get some of the stiffness out of them, and saw Yarrowleaf beckoning to her from across the clearing. Stormsky, Thistlefur and Slatepaw were with him, and Birdpaw remembered with a pang of pity that Leafheart was still shaken from the beating by Marshstar and wasn't in any shape to be training an apprentice so Stormsky had taken the position of Slatepaw's mentor for the time being, possibly even permanently. She padded over to them, her tabby tail dragging across the ground with weariness.

"Stand up straight, Birdpaw," Yarrowleaf growled at her. She lifted her head higher and tried her best to look awake.

Stormsky spoke this time. "We're going to be practising tree-climbing in the patch of forest by the stream," he meowed briskly. "It's a skill we'll need when we'll be fighting in other territories, since WindClan are the only Clan who live in a place where there are almost no trees."

Birdpaw tried to ignore that he'd said "when we'll be fighting", not "if we'll be fighting". She nodded and Stormsky turned, walking toward the entrance tunnel with Yarrowleaf, Thistlefur and Slatepaw following. She padded after them too, ruffling her fur to keep warm. Looking around the camp, she wondered why she was the one who seemed to be the most tired. Most of the other cats showed signs of it, but none of them were dragging their paws like she was. True, she had been to the Moonpool, but so had Slatepaw and he seemed fine.

"Birdpaw!" She glanced ahead of her and saw her brother flicking his tail impatiently. "Hurry up!"

"Coming," she mewed, speeding up her pace slightly until she was out of the camp.

It was a long walk to the woods and Birdpaw had to summon all her strength just to put one paw in front of the other. Slatepaw padded next to her, slowing his pace to match hers.

"If I catch something, you can have it," he told her. She sighed. "Thanks."

There was a short silence before her brother spoke again. "It's partly your fault, though. You should have tried harder to catch something. I managed it."

"You were hunting in a different area to me," she muttered. "There was probably more prey there." Her stomach rumbled again and she tried her best to ignore it and focus on walking.

Slatepaw shrugged his dark grey shoulders. "Marshstar is doing this to make us stronger. We need to become skilled at hunting in Leaf-bare; how will the Clan survive otherwise?"

Birdpaw didn't say anything else and her brother sped up until he was walking next to his mentor. The tabby apprentice brought up the rear. The hills were misty and it was hard to ignore the moisture clinging to her fur.

After a while, they reached the trees. Yarrowleaf flicked his tail for them to sit down and Birdpaw practically fell over. Slatepaw looked tired too, but his eyes were alert. The other apprentice had trouble keeping her eyes open.

Yarrowleaf nodded to a large tree nearby, covered with ivy. "This is the tree we'll be climbing first. Why do you think I chose this one out of all of them?"

Birdpaw remained silent, leaving Slatepaw to answer the question. "The ivy makes climbing easier because we can grab it for support."

Stormsky nodded. "Very good, Slatepaw." He turned and padded over to the tree. "I'm going to climb it first. Watch closely; you'll have to do it afterwards." The female apprentice tried to focus on the grey warrior as he sprang upward, digging his claws into the ivy and bark. She noticed how he didn't scrabble for a foothold and instead dug his claws in firmly to avoid slipping, causing barely any debris to fall from the trunk. Within twenty seconds he had reached the first fork and was hidden in the shadows of the leaves; if Birdpaw hadn't known where he was she probably wouldn't have seen him.

The warrior called down to them from his position. "Think you can do it?"

Slatepaw nodded enthusiastically and Birdpaw acknowledged the grey tom with a dip of her head. Yarrowleaf nodded to Slatepaw. "You go first." He padded over to the tree trunk to wait for him as Stormsky leapt out and landed neatly on the leafy ground.

Birdpaw and Thistlefur were left sitting there, watching the apprentice climb and the two warriors supporting him with words. The tabby apprentice glanced at the she-cat, who was looking slightly dazed. She lightly flicked the warrior on the shoulder with her tail, causing her to start in alarm. "Are you okay?"

Thistlefur remained silent, and Birdpaw remembered that Cheetahpaw had been her first apprentice. She was still probably shocked at his exile, and the conditions of it.

The apprentice was going to leave her alone and carry on watching the training session, but Thistlefur spoke quietly. "Why did they believe Marshstar?"

Birdpaw's ears twitched in surprise. "I've been wondering about that. I don't know."

The speckled she-cat shuddered. "His eyes. Was it because of his eyes? But he didn't look at everyone…"

Birdpaw didn't understand what the problem was with Marshstar's eyes. They were pretty intense, but Stormsky and Nightspots had bright yellow eyes and they weren't talked about at all. Sure, she had never really looked properly at Marshstar's eyes, but…

"Birdpaw." Thistlefur's tone was urgent, and the tabby's head quickly turned to face the warrior. "I need to tell you something-"

"I did it!" A yowl of triumph cut off Thistlefur's words as Slatepaw reached the fork in the tree. His sister glanced at him. "Well done."

"You're turn, Birdpaw." Yarrowleaf beckoned to her and she got up, padding over to the tree and studying it while Slatepaw scrambled down. Tensing her muscles, she sprang and dug her claws into the bark as hard as she could, struggling to find a hold with her back paws and sending bits of bark and leaves flying off the trunk.

"What's going on?"

The voice startled Birdpaw and caused her to fall off the tree trunk, landing awkwardly on her paws. She stared ahead and saw a patrol of ThunderClan warriors across the stream, glaring at the training cats. The three warriors instantly moved together so they weren't as vulnerable. Slatepaw padded over to Birdpaw's side and stood there, glaring across the stream.

Stormsky was the first to speak. His tone was scornful. "We're training. Is that a problem?"

"But WindClan don't train in forests!" a small brown apprentice hissed, his tabby tail swishing from side to side.

"Quiet, Aspenpaw," a golden tom growled. He turned and fixed Stormsky with his amber stare. "WindClan shouldn't be hunting in forests. They've always been hunting on the moors. It's what StarClan wished, as they did for ShadowClan with pine forests and RiverClan with bodies of water."

"Are you trying to tell us what we can and can't do?" Slatepaw spat, his dark grey fur bristling. Birdpaw shot him a worried look. "Slatepaw, calm down. There's no need to start a fight over something like this."

Aspenpaw glared at him. "Maybe we are! What're you going to do about it?"

Slatepaw hissed and sprang forward, but Birdpaw lunged and grabbed his scruff. She had underestimated his strength, and in her state she could barely hold him back. Aspenpaw had leapt too, but he had been blocked by the golden tom. The two apprentices glared at each other across the border, their tails flicking. For a moment, there was a tense silence.

Then, a grey and white she-cat stepped forward. "I'm not happy about WindClan training in forests," she mewed, "but what I'm mostly concerned about is the state of your apprentices." Her yellow eyes fixed on Birdpaw, who suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious. "Have you taken a proper look at her? Her fur is dull and ruffled, and her eyes look dead." The tabby apprentice released her brother and lowered herself slightly so she was mostly concealed behind him. Unfortunately, her belly had picked the worst time to rumble again, and the she-cat heard it. "She's clearly hungry, too! And the tom in front of her looks almost haunted. He's-"

"Swiftheart, that's enough!" a different tom snarled at her. His fur was a dark greyish-brown. "It's not our business to get involved in other Clans' affairs. Although…" He peered at Birdpaw. "She does look malnourished."

"That's enough," Yarrowleaf growled, stepping forward. "Birdpaw and Slatepaw have been to the Moonpool; that's why they look tired. And Goldensky, we are training on our own territory; there's nothing you should be concerned about. We will leave now, but we'll come back. And if you try to stop us, we won't let you push us around." He turned to leave. "Come on, Birdpaw, Slatepaw. We're going back to camp."

The other four cats followed him as he padded away into the bushes. The dark tom yowled after them. "Stay away from our borders!"

"Shut up, Rockpelt!" Slatepaw hissed back. Birdpaw gave him a warning glance. "Don't start more trouble."

He snorted and walked ahead of her. She sighed and followed. _Do I really look that lifeless? _

When they were almost at camp, Birdpaw almost didn't see Thistlefur walk past her. She only noticed because she tripped and almost crashed into her. The spiky furred she-cat stumbled slightly but ignored the apprentice. She walked up to Yarrowleaf and said in a low tone, "Could I have a minute?"

The tom frowned and nodded. "Go on ahead," he told the others as he followed Thistlefur.

Birdpaw blinked in surprise and halted for a few seconds. Slatepaw noticed and turned around. "You coming or what?"

"I-I have to make dirt," she lied. He shrugged and turned to follow the patrol into the camp.

Turning around, she crept over to the place where Thistlefur and Yarrowleaf had disappeared to. Thankfully the area around the camp was a lot more sheltered than most of the moors. She heard voices from behind the bushes and crept through the leaves, straining to listen. Eventually, she was able to make out what they were saying.

"Yarrowleaf, please listen," Thistlefur was saying urgently. "The whole thing with Cheetahpaw – it was wrong. He didn't kill Falconstar!"

Birdpaw's ears pricked. She had been doubtful of this too, but to hear her opinion being shared by another cat was different.

Yarrowleaf's eyes narrowed as he stared at her. "Go on."

"Cheetahpaw came to me after he was supposed to take the rabbit to Falconstar's den," she mewed. "I asked him if he'd done it, and he said he had been carrying it to him, but Marshstar – well, Marshclaw then – had taken it from him halfway and had given it to Falconstar!"

Birdpaw froze for a moment, and then nodded slowly. It made sense. Marshclaw had instantly changed the ways of WindClan after becoming leader, something he wouldn't be able to do while just a deputy. Now he had full control and could do whatever he wanted. He had gotten rid of Falconstar, and everything was going his way.

Yarrowleaf looked at her thoughtfully. He stood up.

Birdpaw looked at him and wondered what he was doing. She shrank away when she realised his expression was unreadable.

He padded past Thistlefur toward her location and she stood still, praying to StarClan he wouldn't find her here.

Then, he whirled around and grasped Thistlefur's neck in his jaws.

Birdpaw took a step back and just manage to stop a cry of horror from escaping her mouth.

Yarrowleaf then spoke. "You could have been a fine warrior, Thistlefur. It's a shame you had to open your mouth."

The she-cat let out a sound that was somewhere between a growl and a cry, and then Yarrowleaf bit down hard, snapping her neck with a horrible cracking sound. He let her go and she fell to the ground, a floppy, lifeless animal.

Birdpaw was horrified, and before she could stop herself, she let out a tiny cry of terror.

Yarrowleaf's head snapped up and he stared straight in her direction.

The apprentice's nerve broke and she fled, running back to camp as fast as she could.


	10. Chapter eight

A figure stood on the top of a hill.

The figure was a cat, a she-cat, to be more precise. Her tail flicked from side to side as she gazed down the hill. She blinked her single good eye as she stood on the grass. The wind blew, ruffling her fur and causing her to close her eye to keep debris from flying into it until the breeze had stopped.

"It's happening," she murmured, leaving her spot and beginning to pad down the hill.

The tabby she-cat shot through the camp entrance.

Her paws skidded on the damp grass and she almost lost her balance. The weariness she had felt from before was gone, and adrenaline was coursing through her veins. She didn't bother to check behind her and instead raced further into camp, ignoring the curious looks she was getting from the other cats.

She spied Slatepaw across the clearing and sped over. "Slatepaw!" She rushed up to her brother, sparing a glance over her shoulder. "Help me," she croaked.

A greyish-brown cat padded through the entrance. Birdpaw could have sworn her heart was going to stop. She had never been this terrified in her life. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to end up like Thistlefur, her neck snapped by a fellow Clanmate for knowing the truth. Yarrowleaf easily found her, and the apprentice flinched when she saw the body he was carrying in his jaws.

It didn't take the Clan long to see him. They quickly formed a crowd, keeping their distance from the tom and whispering in hushed voices. Thistlefur didn't have any close living relatives – her closest friend was Pebblefoot, and he was out on patrol. All the cats looked shocked, but none of them were wailing in despair.

Ferntail, a grey and white patched she-cat, stepped forward. "What is the meaning of this, Yarrowleaf?"

Yarrowleaf let his jaws go slack and Thistlefur's body fell to the ground. "She was a traitor. She was plotting against Marshstar."

"So you killed her?" Runningstream spat. "Instead of exile?"

The tom's gaze turned on her. "If I let her go, she could have gotten support from outside. We can't risk our leader being harmed. WindClan must stay strong."

"Well then," the pale tabby growled, "if she was plotting, as you call it, she must have been plotting with someone! You can't expect us to believe you just walked in on her talking to herself!"

"I was just coming to that," Yarrowleaf replied, his gaze sweeping around the crowd. Birdpaw's heartbeat quickened and she crouched down even further behind Slatepaw, who gave her a puzzled look. She gazed up at him, silently pleading for him to keep his mouth shut.

"I would like to hear this as well," a voice meowed from above.

All the heads turned to see the familiar mottled brown pelt standing on the Tallrock. Marshstar stared down at the cats, his ears twitching. His face didn't show anything other than genuine interest.

Birdpaw's mouth was dry as she waited for her mentor to speak.

He didn't. Instead, he stepped over the body of Thistlefur and walked briskly over to her and Slatepaw. The cats parted to let him through, and the instant he reached her, he thrust Slatepaw aside and grasped her by the scruff. She shut her eyes tight, waiting for him to break her spine, but instead she felt herself being dragged across the clearing. She didn't make any move to get away. Yarrowleaf might be small, but he was still strong. She wouldn't stand a chance.

They reached the base of the Tallrock and Yarrowleaf placed a paw on her head, shoving it into the dirt. She coughed and managed to get her nose out of the ground so she could breathe properly. Marshstar gazed down at her, but didn't say anything.

Out of the corner of her eye, Birdpaw noticed Slatepaw step forward and open his mouth to speak. She signalled urgently to him with her tail to keep quiet. If he spoke, it would only make things worse. She was going to have to take the punishment.

"I heard her talking to Thistlefur on the way back from the stream, talking about how they could gather other cats from the Clan to overthrow you," Yarrowleaf growled. "We cannot allow these acts to continue. They will only make the Clan weak. Birdpaw is weak enough already, and even the other Clans can see it."

The leader nodded. "I completely agree with you, Yarrowleaf. However, I don't feel like getting my paws dirty just yet." He narrowed his eyes at a dark grey tom with black spots. "Nightspots, would you do the honours?"

"Gladly," the tom hissed. Birdpaw could just see him as he padded over to her. For a brief moment her head was free from the dirt as Yarrowleaf raised his paw, but it was immediately shoved down again by the other tom. His head bent down and he growled in her ear.

"It'll be a shame to ruin such a pretty face," he hissed, "but you deserve it. Get up."

She scrambled to her feet as he took his paw away. He fixed her with his yellow gaze. She tried her best to hold her ground, and then he slashed her across her muzzle.

At first the pain didn't register, but then her muzzle began to sting as if there were flames raking across the wound. She clenched her teeth to keep herself from screaming, trying to be as brave as Hollysong. Nightspots slashed her again, this time on her head. She collapsed on the ground and felt another blow rake her shoulder, and then more fell upon her head. The entire left side of her stung like wildfire, but she didn't scream. She just lay there and let the blows rain down, unable to do anything.

_Am I really lifeless?_

"Enough!" Suddenly, the strikes ceased and she opened her eyes, blinking blood from her vision. She heard a small thump as Marshstar leapt down from the Tallrock and made his way over to her. Gradually, the pain of her wounds began to register and she whimpered, curling up into a ball like Leafheart had done. By now a lot of the Clan were backing away. Marshstar ordered Nightspots to stand back, and then prodded her sharply with a paw. "Up. Now."

She did as she was told, struggling to stand on her wounded legs. Her eyes were closed and her head was turned slightly to the side, away from Marshstar's face.

"Look at me, Birdpaw."

_No._

"Didn't you hear me? I told you to look at me."

Her eyes opened slightly and her head began to turn to face him.

"That's it. Now open your eyes."

_I won't be intimidated._

Her eyes opened a little more.

_No matter what happens, I won't be intimidated by him._

Now they were fully open.

_I won't…_

She locked gazes with the leader.

At first, she was able to look into his eyes comfortably. They were intense, but so were most amber eyes. She relaxed slightly.

Then, her brain froze. She couldn't look away. They were like pools of molten lava, burning right into her mind. She could do nothing. Her paws were frozen in place, and she couldn't blink. Her eyes didn't hurt, but she felt if she opened them any wider they would fall out. Birdpaw stared into the leader's eyes. They weren't just plain orange. She could see… things in them. They flickered with emotion and desire. Which emotions they were, she couldn't be sure, but she could be certain that none of them were positive. The desires seemed terrifying and evil – she didn't even want to find out what those were.

She had been so focused on the eyes that when the first blow struck her face, she wasn't prepared for it at all. She stumbled sideways and almost fell over, barely managing to stand up straight. More blood trickled into her eyes and she shook her head to clear it but Marshstar struck again, this time with more force. She toppled over with a strangled cry. Nightspot's attacks were nothing compared to this.

The third blow raked across her eye. She could no longer hold back her screams and she screeched in pain and terror as her left eye was clawed. She squeezed her wounded eyelid shut as blood trickled steadily from the agonizing wound, and her claws dug into the ground. Marshclaw hit her again and sent her skidding across the floor. She heard cats jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by her.

Mud clogged her fur from where she had been slammed into the ground and tossed around. Birdpaw lay there in a daze, watching Marshstar walking toward her. He was taking his time, but she knew from the look in his eyes that he was going to kill her. Inside, she was panicking, however on the outside she couldn't move a muscle. She wanted to get up and run, but her limbs felt as if they were made of stone. Unable to move, she could only stare with her one good eye as the WindClan leader reached her and seized her neck in his jaws. Her mouth opened slightly and a strangled cry came out of it as she felt his jaws begin to close on her throat.

Terror took a hold of her and she began to thrash madly. Marshstar growled and slashed her again to keep her still, but she retaliated and managed to dig her claws into his cheek. He snarled and let her go, striking her forcefully in her stomach, a blow which made her cough as she was thrown to the ground once more. He leaned down and stared into her eyes again. She tried to stare back, but was soon overcome by his gaze.

He snickered and murmured something only she could hear. "You have spirit."

After dealing his final blow, one that shredded her ear completely, he stood up. "Redfeather, take her to your den, but don't treat her," he growled. The medicine cat stared in alarm, then nodded quickly and padded over. Birdpaw felt the footsteps growing louder as she was picked up by her scruff and gently dragged across the ground. It hurt, but she was too numb to care right now. Every inch of her was burning with pain; more made almost no difference. She let herself be pulled across the clearing to the medicine den.

Dimly, she managed to pick out Marshstar talking about how this would happen to any of them if they tried to disobey him. At that point in time, however, she wasn't concerned with it at all. As soon as Redfeather laid her in a nest, she curled up as much as possible and closed her eye to try and sleep. She remembered her mother telling her how sleep was the best medicine, and since Redfeather wasn't treating her, this was the only thing she could do.

She felt a tongue licking her forehead and relaxed slightly. As she fell asleep, she heard the medicine cat speak. "I'm sorry. It's my fault… if only I had said it was him…"

Birdpaw wasn't sure if she was fainting from blood loss or if she was genuinely falling asleep, but she was glad of it either way. She shifted slightly and let the black spots behind her eyelids grow.

The pain was gone when she woke up. She opened her eyes a tiny bit, then widened them once she realised that this wasn't the WindClan camp. She was lying in long grass, the scent of Greenleaf strong in the air.

Birdpaw stumbled to her paws. She knew where she was; it had been almost Leaf-bare in the Clans when she had gone to sleep. She looked up into the night sky and saw Silverpelt glistening above her. Her eyes widened; there were so many stars, more than she'd ever seen in her life. There was barely any dust to block out the twinkling spots, and no other light to interfere with them. She sat down and stared upward, wanting to make sure this stayed in her mind forever.

"Birdpaw."

She turned in surprise at the familiar voice and started when she saw the cat standing there. "Shadeclaw?"

The tom smiled. His dark grey pelt glistened with stars and his eyes were brimming with wisdom that he hadn't had when he was alive. "I'm here, Birdpaw. Don't be afraid."

She rushed forward and pressed herself to him. Despite being almost made of stars, he was still warm and carried the scent of her father she remembered so clearly. "I missed you so much. Is mother here?"

"She is, but you won't be seeing her tonight. Another time," her father added, seeing the disappointment in his daughter's eyes.

Birdpaw looked around again. "Why am I here?" A shocking thought hit her. "Am I dead? Did I die in my sleep?"

Shadeclaw shook his head. "You're not dead, just visiting. If you were dead, your scars would be fading. Look at yourself."

She turned and flinched at how battered she looked. Her wounds were still red and raw; she was glad she couldn't feel pain while in StarClan's hunting grounds. If she found a puddle she would be able to see how bad her face looked, although she wasn't sure if she was ready for that just yet. Although she could see out of both her eyes here, she probably looked pretty bad.

Her father carried on talking. "You may be scarred for life physically – and possibly emotionally, once you wake up – but remember this: your Clan still needs you, even in the state you're in now. Try and live your life even under Marshstar's control." He rested his head on hers.

"But how?" she mewed in confusion. "How can my Clan need me when I'm like this?"

"You're just as valuable as any warrior, Birdpaw," Shadeclaw meowed back. "Maybe even more, as an apprentice. You have the opportunity to become almost anything, unlike a warrior. Slatepaw, too. Don't give up."

She blinked up at him. "What are you saying?"

He smiled fondly at her. "I'm telling you not to shut yourself away." He looked up at the sky. "Our time is up. I must go now, and you have to wake up." He licked her head. "Goodbye, Birdpaw. I hope I'll meet you again soon."

"Goodbye," she whispered, her voice slightly raspy as she felt him fade. She was alone once more, until she lay down in the grass again and closed her eyes.

The first thing Birdpaw felt when she awoke was pain. Pain everywhere, in every inch of her body. She was soaking wet as well; it had clearly rained at night and there were puddles everywhere in the medicine den. However, she was parched and managed to lean closer to lap at one of the nearest ones.

It tasted salty, contaminated with her own blood. She spat it out in disgust.

A cat padded into the den. She expected it to be Redfeather, but when she looked at it closely she recognised Vinepaw, the medicine cat apprentice. He started when he saw her and almost dropped the herbs he was carrying, and then turned away awkwardly. She tried to greet him, but only a croak came out. She needed to drink.

She couldn't stand just yet, but managed to crawl across the ground to a cleaner pool and began to lap from that. After a while her thirst was quenched and she raised her head. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of looking at her reflection in the water.

A whimper escaped her and she flinched away from the cat in the puddle. Instead of its wounded eye being closed, it was wide open and bleeding. Many slashes covered the face, her right ear was torn and the left one was almost gone. A large slash distorted her expression, starting just above her eye and stretching down to the bottom of her chin, pulling her mouth down into a grimace. Her good eye looked dull and haunted. After a few seconds of horror staring at her reflection, she managed to pull herself away and lie down in her nest again.

She curled up and tried to ignore the stinging sensation from her wounds. _I'll be like this for life. These aren't the kinds of scars that just go away. They'll stay with me forever._

She felt a twinge of emotion in her stomach. This was who she was now. She would never be the same again.

**3 chapters in a row! xD I'm spoiling you. Well there are probably only about 4 people who read this so far… but yeah, the next chapter will take longer for various reasons. Until then, have good lives~**


	11. Chapter nine

**ohay, I finally got up and finished this. Sorry for the wait!**

Light padded silently behind Rising. The tabby was quiet too, his head and tail lowered. The other tom wasn't sure what to do; he had always been bad with words, but he didn't like seeing Rising like this. He had been so cheerful earlier.

_Should I try and talk to him? But there's nothing to talk about…_

Nevertheless, he quickened his pace until he was walking next to the tabby. "Um, Rising…"

He was cut off. Rising turned to face him. "Let's hunt."

Light blinked. "Huh?"

"I said let's hunt. I'm hungry, and I bet you are too. You haven't eaten since I found you, and you look pretty thin."

"I do?" He tried to turn to look at himself but obviously he couldn't tell from his angle. "Well, okay. I could do with some food, I guess."

"Come on, then." Rising's sad mood seemed to be gone as he altered his direction toward a large patch of gorse and other bushes. Light followed him, sniffing the air for prey as they went. "Weren't you supposed to be showing me around the territory?"

The other tom twitched his tail. "There's not really much to see. Anyway, we have plenty of time." He suddenly froze, tasting the air. "I can smell something!"

Light could smell it too. The scent of fresh mouse lingered in the air. He lowered his head to the ground and tried to find where it led, taking a few steps forward along the trail before looking up at the gorse bush. Something small was moving around in the bush. _Definitely a mouse._

"It's over there," he whispered to his friend, nodding in the direction of the creature. The dusty brown cat's ears pricked up and he immediately crouched down to conceal himself.

Focusing on his target, Light began to carefully put one paw in front of the other, occasionally glancing down to make sure he wasn't about to step on anything that would make a loud noise. His concentration was interrupted, however, when he heard a crunch behind him and saw Rising leap up and bound past, pouncing in the mouse's general direction. He landed in the bush and let out an annoyed mewl as the mouse fled deeper into the bush out of his sight, while he struggled to free himself from the twigs.

Light's shoulders sagged and he stood up with a sigh. "Did you ever get taught how to hunt?"

Rising winced as more of the twigs poked his fur. "Mother tried to teach me, but she hasn't gotten far yet." He let out another hiss of annoyance at the bush.

Light padded over and inspected his situation. "Um… hold still." He leaned forward and began to pry branches out of his friend's fur, trying to avoid hurting him. The tabby tried to struggle a few times, but stopped when his helper growled at him to hold still. Eventually the spotted tom had pulled away enough twigs for him to scramble free and onto the grass again, where he began to bite the debris out of his fur. Light sat and waited for him to finish.

When he was done, Rising glanced at his companion. "Do you know how to hunt properly?"

Light paused. "Well, uh, I guess… I mean I wasn't even halfway through my training before I was exiled, but…"

"Could you teach me?"

He blinked in surprise. "I..." _Wouldn't it be like being a mentor? I'm only seven moons old; I can't train anyone yet! Although he is more inexperienced than me…_

"I guess I could teach you the basics," he mewed thoughtfully. "I don't know that much, though."

"You know more than me!" Rising's gaze was hopeful. "Please?"

"Alright, sure. Now?"

His friend nodded.

"Okay." Light stood up and padded over to a cleaner patch of grass. "We'll start with the hunting crouch. Bear in mind that I'm not very good at any of this yet."

Rising padded over to sit next to him. Light glanced over at the tabby. "Watch me." He lowered himself down so his belly almost brushed the ground, keeping his head low and his tail held slightly off the ground to avoid making sounds in the grass. He flattened his ears to conceal as much as possible; there wasn't that much cover on the moors. After staying like that for a few seconds, he got up. "Your turn."

He watched as Rising tried to imitate his crouch. The tom crouched down and lowered his head like Light had done. His tail swished from side to side.

"Keep your tail still or the prey will hear you," Light warned him. Rising stopped swishing and let his tail lie flat on the ground.

"Can you lower yourself a little more?" the spotted cat questioned. Rising frowned and positioned himself slightly lower to the ground. It wasn't the ideal level, but Light didn't want to push him too far.

"Flatten your ears," he said to the tabby, who did as he was told. "And keep your tail up slightly so it doesn't drag." He did this too.

Light looked him over for a few seconds before telling him he could get up. Rising sat up and looked over at his friend. "How did I do?"

"Well… obviously you need to improve a little more, but you're doing good for now. Want to practice stalking?"

He received a nod from the other cat.

"Okay, watch me." Light dropped into the crouch again, making sure he was in the same position he had been in before and began to carefully put one paw in front of the other. "Check the ground every so often to make sure you're not going to step on a twig or something," he added as he stalked. He tried to look as professional as possible, even though he was anything but. After a while, he leapt from his position and landed a couple of feet away from where he had started. "Try it."

Rising tried to copy him, although he seemed to have trouble balancing his weight. It was obvious he was trying hard; his face was furrowed with concentration and his limbs were tensed. "Try to relax a bit more," Light told him. "Hold yourself in a firm position, but don't tense up."

After a few more paw-steps, Rising leapt just as Light had in his demonstration. He landed on the ground, stumbling a bit before righting himself. "Was that good?"

The other tom nodded. "Obviously you're not going to get it right first time, but it was well done." He paused for a moment. _What next?_

"Are you a fast runner?" he asked.

Rising thought for a moment. "I'm alright at it, I guess."

"Well, in my Clan we're trained to be fast because we chase rabbits over the moors. Since you live here," he gestured to the moors and rocks, "you'll need to be fast."

"Should we race, then?" Rising questioned, his tail flicking excitedly.

Light smiled slightly. "Sure, why not? We-" His words were lost as Rising bounded past him, the wind disturbing his fur as he dashed past. The tom jumped up in surprise. "W-wait for me!" he yowled, sprinting after him.

"It's a race, remember?" his friend cheerily called back.

"Where are we going?"

"I have no idea! Let's just run until we see somewhere to race to!"

Light caught up to him and ran alongside him, feeling the wind streaming through his fur. He and Rising ran at similar speeds – he guessed Rising ran faster because he was stronger than him, and he ran faster because he had been trained and was more streamlined. He stared straight ahead into the wind, narrowing his eyes so dirt and dust couldn't get into them. He had missed this feeling; when he had been in WindClan he would do this almost every day, for training or just for fun. He hadn't done this in a while. For a moment, he felt like he was back at home.

Rising's voice cut him out of his thoughts. "There's a large tree over there! Race you!"

The spotted tom picked up his pace and sped toward the tree, Rising on his heels. The tabby tom was falling behind and Light reached the tree first, flopping down in the shade and panting heavily. Rising arrived a moment after, lying down next to him. "My stamina isn't that good," he remarked with a growl.

"Mine isn't very good either," Light said between breaths. "But we'll get better at it." He rested his head on his paws, trying to catch his breath.

Rising rolled over and batted at a long piece of grass. They lay in silence for a while, and Light felt himself dozing off.

He was almost asleep when his friend spoke to him. "What are the Clans like?"

The question surprised him. Light paused, his tail twitching. "Um… what do you want to know?"

"Like…" Rising hesitated for a moment before continuing. "What are the Clans called?"

"WindClan, ThunderClan, RiverClan and ShadowClan," Light replied. "I'm from WindClan. We live on hills like these, but with fewer rocks. ShadowClan live in dark pine forests where the ground is always damp. ThunderClan live in regular forests and RiverClan live in forests too, but the trees are thinner and there are more bodies of water around. They can swim, and they enjoy it too." He wrinkled his nose. "I don't understand how."

Rising's eager gaze was fixed on him like a kit being told a story. "Which Clan is the biggest?"

Light thought about this for a few seconds before replying. "I think ShadowClan or RiverClan are the biggest. ThunderClan used to be, but they've gradually shrunk to a more normal size. WindClan are the smallest, and from what I've heard this is usually what happens."

His friend nodded, seemingly processing this information. "Do you constantly fight each other?"

He received a shake of the head. "Nope. Sometimes we fight if one Clan does something to anger another, like steal prey from their territory, but that usually doesn't happen. We all follow the warrior code, after all."

"The warrior code? That's a set of rules, right? What are the rules?"

Light's shoulders sagged. "Telling you all the rules and explaining them would take forever."

"Oh, okay. Maybe later, then." Rising looked up at the sky, and Light noticed that an orange tint was spreading across the horizon. "We should look for somewhere to sleep for the night," the tabby remarked. "The sun will go down soon and I don't want to be walking around in the dark. This tree is too exposed."

The spotted cat nodded and stood up, stretching his limbs. They felt slightly cramped after the run and he found walking difficult. Rising appeared to have a similar problem and the two padded slowly away from the shelter of the tree, scanning the moors for a sheltered place. Light saw a large clump of heather and gorse and nodded toward it. "Does that look okay? There could be spaces in the bushes for us to sleep."

"Let's go and see." Rising picked up his pace and Light followed behind. When they reached the bushes, the spotted tom nosed in between the branches and crawled into a hollow space free of thorns and sharp twigs. He turned his head and nodded to Rising. "There's space for both of us." It wasn't the most comfortable makeshift den, but it would have to do for now.

His friend crawled in with him, wincing as his fur snagged on the twigs and lay down next to Light. "I hope it doesn't rain again," he mumbled, curling up as his eyes began to close.

"Yeah." Light could see the sky clearly through the branches; if it rained they would be soaked and liable to fall ill. He rested his head on his paws, remembering how about this time yesterday he had been crawling away from the fox and into the badger set for refuge. His eyes began to close. "Oh, um, by the way, thanks for getting me out of the badger set."

"Hm?" Rising's head lifted in surprise. "Badger set?"

The tom blinked in confusion. "You know what I mean… when you found me, I was in a badger set. You got me out." He peered at the other cat. "Didn't you?"

The tabby shook his head uncertainly. "Nope. There was a badger set nearby, but it had collapsed from the rain. If you had been in there, you would've been crushed. I wouldn't have been strong enough to pull you out."

"But…" Light's mind spun. For a little while he was too bewildered to know what to say. "I was chased into the set by a fox the night before. How was I out when you found me?"

He didn't get an answer. Rising was already asleep, his breathing rhythmic and steady.

Light sighed and closed his own eyes. He would talk to him about it tomorrow; for now he just wanted to sleep. Pushing away his confused thoughts, he let himself fall unconscious.

**Finally! Sorry if it seems rushed; I don't like writing filler and I'm not very good at it :/**


	12. Chapter ten

Light's paws twitched as he woke up in the bush, his eyes slowly opening. Rising was pressed against him and the comforting warmth made him want to go to sleep again, but as he began to doze off once more the other tom prodded him sharply.

"Don't fall asleep again," he mewed urgently. "I didn't want to wake you up, but you're awake now and we have to go."

Light groaned and opened his eyes more, sitting up and looking over at Rising. The tabby was also sitting, shifting his paws and glancing around as if he expected something to leap out of the trees at any moment. He looked relieved when the spotted tom got up, but still pretty jumpy. "Come on." He quickly got to his paws and began to squeeze through the bush.

"Huh?" Light blinked in confusion and followed his friend out. "Why do we have to…"

His words trailed off as his nose picked up a strange scent. He stopped in his tracks and sniffed the air, the fur on the back of his neck prickling. The scent wasn't familiar to him, but there was something about it which made him wary. It didn't belong to another animal, it was definitely a cat, but with the uncomfortable feeling it gave him it might as well have been a fox or a badger.

"Have you smelt it?" Rising meowed under his breath. After receiving a nod from the other tom, he continued. "It smells bad, and weirdly familiar to me. I don't want to be around it, especially since it wasn't there this morning." He looked scared.

"I don't want to stay here either," Light responded, glancing around. "Let's get out of this place."

The tabby turned and began to travel quickly away from the bush. Light followed him. He lowered himself slightly as he walked; trying to make himself less noticeable if there was someone looking for them. He tried not to think about what would happen if they were seen – or had they already been seen?

Eventually Rising sped up and bounded toward a patch of small trees and bushes where they would be better hidden. Light quickened his pace and followed the other tom. Once they reached the small forest-like area, he sat down and tried to smooth his ruffled fur.

He then remembered he had been meaning to question Rising about who had dragged him out of the badger set before it collapsed. He was about to say something, but the tabby spoke first. "I'm still meant to be showing you around. There's a Twolegplace nearby. Want to go there?"

Light wasn't sure what to be more surprised about, the fact that his friend called them Twolegs as well or that he had just suggested they go and see their nests. "Um… are you sure it's safe?"

"Oh, I'm sure!" Rising was looking cheerful again. "I have some friends there, too. I haven't seen them in a while. Shall we go?"

The thought of going so close to Twolegs made Light uncomfortable but he didn't want to keep Rising from going there. "Sure, I guess…"

"Let's go, then!" The tabby stood up and began to trot away. He looked generally happy, but Light could see from the way his shoulders were tensed and his ears were slightly flattened that he was still wary. The spotted tom got up and began to follow him through the small patch of woods.

Rising was right; the Twolegplace wasn't very far from there. It wasn't long before they came to a tall wooden fence. A dozen new smells hit Light all at once and he struggled to make sense of all of them – there was a strange smell that reminded him of his mother's milk, several smells which seemed to be related to food, and of course the scents of cats. Most of the smells were unnatural and made him even more uncomfortable, but they didn't seem dangerous. The only one he was wary of was a dog scent, and dogs weren't very smart so he could get away from one easily. He tried to relax.

The tabby tom sprung up and grasped the side of the fence, clawing his way to the top. After some hesitation Light followed. At first he was nervous of the height and instability of the structure, but he managed to find his balance and follow Rising along the top.

Light could tell that the Twolegplace was rather small. The thought comforted him; he wouldn't get lost easily if Rising decided to venture further in. The gardens were mostly neat and co-ordinated, although there were a few which were wild and unruly with all kinds of common plants sprouting out of the earth and tangling across the ground. He almost fell off the fence when a dog barked up at them, but Rising hissed at it and they carried on moving.

Eventually, Rising jumped down into one of the gardens. Light hung around on the fence. Would going into a Twoleg garden be safe? He had been warned about it countless times in WindClan.

"Come on," Rising called up to him. "It's safe, I promise!"

The spotted cat swallowed and leapt down to join him, keeping low and glancing around nervously. Rising gave him a reassuring look and padded forward. "Liza? Liza, are you there?" he meowed loudly.

Light's ears flattened. "K-keep it down!"

"It's fine, don't worry!" The tabby stood tall, his ears pricked.

A clicking noise sounded from the corner of the garden and Light saw a cat push open a flap in the wall and slither out. It shook itself and pricked its ears, glancing around the garden. Rising called again and it turned its head toward the two cats. The black cat spotted them and bounded over the grass toward them, stopping in front of Rising. "Hi, Rising! I haven't seen you in ages!"

Rising purred. "I thought I'd stop by! How are you?"

"I'm doing good." The she-cat's tail twitched as she saw Light. Her eyes were curious. "Who's this? I haven't seen him around."

"His name is Light," Rising mewed. "He used to be a Clan cat!"

Liza's eyes widened. "A Clan cat? Really?"

"Yeah!" Rising nudged the spotted cat with his nose. "Light, this is Liza," he said. "She's a bit older than me, but she acts like a kit."

"Hey!" The black she-cat's fur bristled slightly, but only in a playful way.

Light's ears twitched. "Um… hi," he mewed awkwardly. Liza was staring at him with a look of fascination. "You're really from the Clans?" she questioned.

He nodded. "I-I don't live there anymore, though."

To his relief, she didn't question why. "I thought Rising was odd living outside in the cold and rain, but he at least has some contact with Twolegs. From what I've heard, Clan cats survive entirely on their own." Her ears twitched. "The other house cats around here say you eat bones, but I don't believe them." She wrinkled her nose. "Only dogs eat bones, and you're definitely not a dog!"

Light was glad she was talkative and he didn't have to hold the conversation. "Yeah, we don't eat bones," he assured her. "We eat the forest animals, but we don't eat their bones."

A Twoleg yowl interrupted the three cats and Light looked up in alarm to see a Twoleg standing at the entrance to the nest. He knew it was only calling Liza but he couldn't stop himself from backing into a bush and crouching so he wouldn't be seen by it. He was still nowhere near comfortable around them.

Liza's tail twitched when he did this and she purred in amusement. "She won't do you any harm; she likes all cats!" She turned her head toward her Twoleg. "Anyway, I have to go inside now. Bye, Rising! You too, Light. See you again sometime!" She turned around and trotted back toward the nest.

"Bye, Liza!" Rising turned toward the bush Light was hiding in and prodded it with his forepaw. "Come on, Light. There's someone else I want to say hello to, then we'll go back."

_Back where? To Gorse and Steel? _ The tom decided not to say anything and crawled cautiously out of the bush, following Rising up onto the fence once more.

Two gardens along, the tabby leapt down again. This garden was plainer than the previous one and with less grass. Some kind of hard, foreign material made up some of the ground and leaves from a massive beach tree in the corner covered the floor. Light glanced around – the place felt strange and empty.

There was already a cat in the garden – a small tabby she-cat who looked barely older than him; however there was something about her face which made him certain she was at least 8 or 9 moons old. She was lying in the leaves and grass, her eyes slightly closed. Rising called out to her. "Hallie?"

Her eyes opened and instantly fixed on Rising. Her expression was slightly cold, but it brightened when she seemingly recognised the tabby. "Hey, Rising. Should I get Poppy?"

"Go ahead."

She turned and trotted toward her house, nudging her way past the flap in the wall.

"Hallie is small but she's 11 moons old," Rising told Light. "Her sister is even smaller, and she's the same age. And they're both really sharp-witted."

"Her face says she's older than she looks," Light murmured, hoping she wouldn't hear somehow.

The tabby she-cat returned not long after with a small black cat following her. They padded over to the two toms and Hallie nodded a greeting. "Good to see you, Rising. How are things?"

"Things are fine." Light noticed that Rising's voice changed slightly when he spoke to the two – it became calmer.

The black she-cat, apparently called Poppy, was staring at Light intently. "Are you a Clan cat?"

Light flinched in surprise. "H-how did you…"

"Your fur is too coarse for a house cat and you look too well-fed to be a loner," she replied. "I thought Clan cats aren't meant to go near housefolk places. Why are you here?"

The spotted cat wasn't used to being questioned this much, especially in such a forward tone. "Um… I-I don't live in my Clan anymore," he stammered uncomfortably. He hoped she would be like Liza and not pry any further, but unfortunately this was not the case. She frowned at him. "Why?"

"Poppy, you need to learn to stay out of other cats' business," Hallie growled. Light relaxed slightly, his fur flattening in relief. "Um, thanks." He was suddenly aware that it had grown colder and he fluffed up his fur to keep warm. The two she-cats were doing this too, although their fur was very short so it probably didn't help much.

Poppy shrugged, then her ears pricked and she turned around. "The kit is coming."

"Oh." Hallie stood up. "You two had better go or she'll try and make you her pets as well."

As she spoke a young Twoleg appeared at the door, saw the cats and began to slowly make her way over to them, calling and making strange sounds. Rising took a step back. "We'll go. It was nice seeing you two!"

The two sisters said their goodbyes as well and the toms leapt up onto the fence once more. Light glanced up; judging by the sky it was a little past sunhigh, although clouds hid the sun so he couldn't really tell. Either way, they needed to go back now.

"Time to leave, I guess," Rising meowed. Light nodded, relieved at the thought of leaving this place.

They padded away from the Twoleg place. Rising gradually sped up and Light had to keep up with him so eventually they were running through the trees, their paws kicking up leaves from the ground. They emerged from the woods and carried on over the moorland – not as fast as they had while racing the day before, but fast nonetheless.

In the end they had to slow to a walk to avoid getting too tired and padded along the grass, occasionally talking to each other as they neared the bushes where Gorse and Steel lived. As they got closer, Light began to feel uncomfortable again. Would being with Rising's family be as awkward as it had been yesterday?

They got to the first line of bushes and Rising suddenly froze. His ears pricked and he sniffed the air, his tail flicking.

Light stared at him. "What is it?"

He then smelt it. The scent. The same scent they had smelt that morning.

The pair exchanged a glance. Rising took a tentative step forward into the bushes, then another. Light followed him as he crawled through the prickly gorse, his muscles tense. The spotted cat felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest.

The scent was strong. Stronger than it had been when they woke up. The two toms crouched down at the edge of the bushes and peered into the small clearing where the log was.

They both saw it at the same time. Light was too stunned for words. Rising let out a strangled cry.

Gorse lay in the clearing, blood streaming from a gash in her throat. Her tabby and white fur was ruffled and clumps of earth were stuck to her, clearly indicating a struggle in the dirt. Her eyes were wide and staring. A trickle of blood ran out of her open mouth.

Just beyond lay Steel, appearing to have suffered a similar fate. Light couldn't see him clearly from his position, but the fatal wound appeared to be in his stomach rather than his throat and his body had more scratches on it than Gorse's. He felt sick and looked away, closing his eyes and trying to block out the images from his mind, but they lingered no matter what he did. He felt Rising shaking beside him and tried to press against him for comfort, even though he was shaking himself. However, in a state of rage and desperation, Rising sprang from his hiding place and ran to the body of his mother. Light followed, not wanting to leave him alone in the clearing.

Rising stared down at Gorse for a few moments and then hissed as he looked around the area. "Where are you?" he spat. His whole body was shaking. Light couldn't tell if it was from fear or rage. "Come out, or else I'll… I'll…" His voice cracked and his head lowered as he stared at his mother's corpse.

Light had no idea what to do. The stench of death and blood was all around him and his head was spinning trying to take everything in.

A rustle in the bushes to his right alerted him. His head snapped up and he stared as a cat slunk out, followed by two more. He was suddenly aware that they were being watched from all sides. There were a lot more cats here than just those three in front of them.

Rising looked up and his eyes widened when he saw the leader of the group. "You…"

Something slammed into the back of Light's head. Everything went black.


End file.
